Terminal Weather Dashboard help
The impacts board is a time series display of weather conditions. The potential impacts are colored based on severity and can be broken down to view specific criteria.
Forecast Board
The forecast board displays the current observation under the OBS column, the latest TAF for the airport and provides data out to 36 hours, switching to LAMP forecasted data (outlined in magenta) following the TAF valid period. There are two formats for the board, a condensed view and an expanded view.
LAMP: The Localized Aviation MOS Program (LAMP) is model data which provides hourly forecast guidance for ceiling and visibility. More information on LAMP can be found here.
Condensed View
The condensed view displays data for multiple stations along the vertical axis and time along the horizontal axis. The first column contains the latest METAR observation, if available. Each subsequent cell represent hourly forecasts from TAFs or LAMP to 36 hours. LAMP data is outlined with a magenta color. Impacts are color coded by severity with red representing a high potential impact, orange a moderate potential impact, yellow a slight potential impact, while boxes are left blank if no impact is expected for that time period. The letters in the box represent the cause of the hazard. If TEMPO conditions are present for a certain hour, the data is displayed in brackets with the same coloration.
- CIG - ceiling
- VIS - visibility
- TS or WX - thunderstorms (when present) or weather (rain, freezing rain, fog)
- WSpd - wind speed
- WGst - wind Gust
There may be multiple hazards however only the highest ranked from this list will be displayed for compactness.
Expanded View
For more detailed information for a specific site, click on the station identifier on the left. The expanded view lists weather conditions along the vertical axis.
- VIS - visibility in miles
- CIG - cloud ceiling in 100s feet
- FltCat - flight category: VFR, MVFR, IFR, LIFR
- Wx - weather
- WDir - wind direction
- WSpd - wind speed in knots
- WGst - wind gust speed in knots
METAR Board
The METAR board functions the same as the impacts board, but the user can look at past METAR observations. On the expanded view, additional parameters are included. The full board displays:
- Temp - temperature in Fahrenheit
- Dewpt - dew point in Fahrenheit
- Altim - pressure (altimeter) in inches Hg
- VIS - visibility in miles
- CIG - cloud ceiling in 100s feet
- Cov - cloud cover: CLR, FEW, SCT, BKN, OVC
- FltCat - flight category: VFR, MVFR, IFR, LIFR
- Wx - weather
- WDir - wind direction
- WSpd - wind speed in knots
- WGst - wind gust speed in knots
Thresholds
There are currently three options for highlighting potential impacts:
Impact
Thresholds with identified impacts to efficient operations of the National Airspace System. Please note these have very low ceiling and visibility impact levels that are less applicable for general aviation.
IMC
Traditional flight category rules for Marginal Visual Meteorological Conditions (MVMC/MVFR), Instrument Meteorological Conditions (IMC/IFR), and Low Instrument Meteorological Conditions (LIMC/LIFR).
CAC
Categorical Amendment Criteria. Flight rules as above modified based on FAA approach plates.
Flight Categories (IMC)
| Impact | Category | Ceiling | Visibility | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| High | LIFR | below 500 feet AGL | and/or | less than 1 mile |
| Medium | IFR | 500 feet to below 1000 feet AGL | and/or | 1 mile less than 3 miles |
| Slight | MVFR | 1000 feet to 3000 feet AGL | and/or | 3 to 5 miles |
| None | VFR | greater than 3000 feet AGL | and | greater than 5 miles |
FAQ
What has changed recently?
The entire site has been redesigned so almost everything is new. For information about the most recent updates, please see the change log.
Why is my link not working?
As part of the upgrade to the site, some pages were consolidated and some URL's have changed. Check out the link conversions to find what you are looking for. If you are still unable to find the information you are looking for, submit a question using the envelope in the top right.
Where is the METAR page?
You can view the METAR data by using the Products dropdown and selecting METAR data. The interactive Graphical Forecasts for Aviation map also displays METARs, under the observations tab. To view METARs alone, click on the Layers button at the top left corner of the map and deselect items you do not wish to view. You can view decoded METARs by checking the "decoded box in the Map Options under the gear icon on GFA. Here is a link to the observations tab: GFA Observations tab.
How do I submit PIREPs?
Sign up for an account on our registration page, or using the Contact Us dialog under the envelope at the top right corner of the screen. Select "PIREP Access" as the category, and be sure to include your airmen’s certificate number or affiliation with an airline, flight school, government or military organization for validation purposes to streamline the process. Accounts are validated via the FAA Airmen Inquiry.
Once you have an account and are logged in, select "Submit a PIREP" from the Tools dropdown and fill out the form. For more information on PIREP submit, use the link at the bottom, or click here.
Where do I submit questions/comments?
Click on the envelope button at the top right corner of your screen to fill out the webmail form. There are some new features and there will be some initial bugs. Please don't hesitate to let us know. We run a deployment of functionality upgrades every month. Critical bugs will be fixed as soon as possible.
Why can't I log in to my account?
You will need to log in and/or have correct permissions. If you do not see a confirmation email after registering, please check your spam folder. Please contact us if further information is required.
How do I access the Flight Path Tool?
The flight path tool is now embedded into the interactive Graphical Forecasts for Aviation map. Click on the route button along theright side of the map to open the display. Enter the airports to navigate, and select the product you wish to display from the dropdown. Watch a video on how to use the cross sections here.