Flight Training - July 2014 - 44

WEATHER»

forecasts for the part of the country
where you plan to fly. These describe
the general weather picture over large
areas of the country-six forecasts
cover the 48 contiguous states. They
include forecasts for cloud cover and
other weather between airports.
Area forecasts, which are labeled
"FA," describe the clouds, general
weather conditions, and visual meteorological conditions (VMC) expected
over several states. These forecasts are
issued three times a day and are valid
for 18 hours. Reading these will help
fill in the picture you get from the prog
charts. As with the prog charts, you
should use these only for general planning and to help you figure out what
questions you want to ask a briefer.
The NWS Aviation Weather Center
area forecasts are online (www.
aviationweather.gov/areafcst). The
forecast begins with a description of

potentially dangerous weather followed
by a general synopsis that describes the
systems affecting the region's weather. It
then gives more details of the expected
weather in states or parts of states.
Finally, you want to look at the terminal aerodrome forecasts (TAFs) for
your destination airport and airports
along your route. You'll find these
online (www.aviationweather.gov/taf ).
This page has a U.S. map on the top
showing a few airports. If you scroll
down below the map you'll find a box
when you can type in the four-letter
International Civil Aviation Organization identifier for airports you are
interested in. For most U.S. airports,
put "K" in front of the three-letter
identifier you usually use.
If you're flying to an airport for which
the NWS doesn't produce TAFs, you can
get information from the nearest airport
with TAFs or use the area forecast.

IMPERFECT FORECASTS. Weather forecasting has improved greatly in recent
years, but it's far from perfect.
In general, forecasts are much better
for big systems such as winter storms
and hurricanes. Meteorologists also do
a good job of alerting areas where
strong thunderstorms or tornadoes
are likely a day or two in advance. But
they can't say where individual thunderstorms will form and how strong
they'll be until the storms are actually
forming.
This means that as you fly, you
should stay alert to the possibility of
unexpected weather changes. You can
update weather information in flight
by contacting flight watch on the 122.0
MHz frequency.
Jack Williams is an instrument-rated private pilot.
His latest weather book is The AMS Weather Book:
The Ultimate Guide to America's Weather.

ATCA is recruiting experienced CFI's
Minimum starting salary of $41,200

(or subject to experience as high as $54,000)
plus exceptional benefits including health care, 401k match,
vacations and reduced airline travel privileges through
Lufthansa German Airlines

Minimum qualification:
* Class 1 medical
* CPL, CFI, CFII:
* 500 PIC
* 200 Flight Instruction given
* 200 Instrument (incl. IFR in VMC, IMC, Sim IFR, 50fh FTD)

Please send your applications to:
CFIjobs@atcapilots.net

Airline Training Center Arizona, Inc.
1658 S Litchfield Rd., Bldg. 104
Goodyear, AZ 85338
For more information visit:
www.atca.net
http://www.aviationweather.gov/taf http://www.aviationweather.gov/areafcst http://www.aviationweather.gov/areafcst http://www.atca.net
Flight Training - July 2014

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Flight Training - July 2014
