Introducing Graphical Forecasts for Aviation

In the summer of 2014 the FAA published in the Federal Register its intent to do away with the Area Forecast (FA) and replace it with digital and graphical alternatives. The agency wrote that the FA was a broad forecast of limited value and that existing, better, alternatives existed.

jmiller

Tuesday, May 10, 2016 at 12:00 AM ET

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Key Takeaways:

The GFA (Graphical Forecast for Aviation) is a new digital tool replacing the traditional Area Forecast, consolidating various aviation weather products into interactive graphical overlays.
It introduces novel Clouds and Ceiling/Visibility overlays, providing essential information for instrument pilots to assess conditions at airports without TAFs and determine alternate airport requirements.
While comprehensive, the GFA relies on computer models, which can lead to interpolation inaccuracies or inconsistencies between products, and may exhibit operational clunkiness, requiring a conservative interpretation.

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In the summer of 2014 the FAA published in the Federal Register its intent to do away with the Area Forecast (FA) and replace it with digital and graphical alternatives. The agency wrote that the FA was a “broad forecast of limited value” and that better alternatives existed. We wrote about the demise of the forecast in “FA Swan Song” in our July, 2015 issue.

This January the National Weather Service released an Experimental Graphical Forecast for Aviation (GFA), which the Service says is a graphical replacement of the text FA. Is it? Does it contain information pilot’s need? Can you determine if an alternate is required or an airport qualifies? Let’s find out.