The area forecast is being eliminated. The old, familiar, text-based weather product, coded as “FA,” will be discontinued by the National Weather Service (NWS) sometime during 2016. The upcoming change applies to the six area forecasts covering the Continental U.S., plus the single product for Hawaii. Area forecasts for Alaska, the Caribbean and the Gulf of Mexico will be unaffected, at least for now.
After a public comment period begun in 2014, the FAA and NWS determined the FA resulted in “a broad forecast of limited value.” The NWS said it “provides equivalent information through a number of better alternatives,” including “more-modern digital and graphical forecasts, observations, and communications capabilities.” The NWS added that existing alternatives to the FA include surface weather analyses and prognostic charts, significant weather (SIGWX) charts, terminal aerodrome forecasts (TAFs) and Airmets.
