The FAA is retiring the National Weather Service Area Forecast for the contiguous U.S., the FAA said in an Information for Operators (InFO), as the service is transitioning to the Graphical Forecast for Aviation (GFA).
“The intent of the FAA in retiring the [Area Forecast] and transitioning to the digital GFA is to allow the Aviation Weather Center forecasters to focus their efforts on maximizing operational benefit to aviation users, resulting in improved weather information to decisionmakers,” the FAA said.
To maintain continuity of service, the FAA said, the graphical forecast will ensure availability of equivalent information, and add graphical displays of the predominant weather, sky cover, and windspeed and direction. However, area forecasts for Alaska, the Gulf of Mexico, Hawaii and the Caribbean are to remain unchanged.
GFAs are a set of web-based displays, the FAA said, that cover the continental U.S. from the surface up to 42,000 feet mean sea level. Users are able to select fields of interest. The National Weather Service is set to stop production of the text area forecasts Oct. 10.