Inter-agency partnership for safety
Messages from the Center Weather Unit
An in-flight advisory refresher page..
SIGMETS..
There are two types, the plain vanilla SIGMETS issued for moderate or greater areas of turbulence, icing or volcanic ash covering at least 3000 square miles of airspace, and the Convective SIGMETS only for thunderstorms. Both of these products should automatically print at your local HOST strip printer, routed to ONLY the Sectors that need to read the message (within 150nm of the affected Sector). These products are prepared and disseminated by the NWS's Aviation Weather Center in Kansas City.
AIRMETS..
AIRMETS are prepared and disseminated by forecasters at the Aviation Weather Center and cover areas of moderate icing, turbulence, low level wind shear and widespread areas of IFR. At ZME the Flight Data section is responsible for issuing all AIRMETS within the facility via a GI message on HOST. If you have any questions or concerns about AIRMETS, see FD.
CWAs..MISs
Center Weather Advisories (CWAs) are in-flight advisories specific to Memphis Center and are issued as needed to cover the effects of icing, turbulence, thunderstorms, and areas of Low IFR conditions. CWAs are issued by the CWSU meteorologists when on duty (5:30am to 9:30pm). They will also be routed on HOST to ONLY the Sectors that need to read the message. Meteorological Impact Statements (MIS) cover weather expected to affect Memphis Center during a 12 hour period. They are issued by the CWSU via a GI message and are for information only.
PIREPS
After PIREPS are delivered to the CWSU or TMU they are issued through HOST to all required facilities and long-line to the rest of the planet. If during regular duty hours the CWSU meteorologist is away from the position the VSCS phone may be temporarily forwarded to TMU, who shares responsibility for handling PIREPS. During times when the CWSU is closed all PIREPS should be forwarded to TMU.
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Inter-agency partnership for safety
Last updated Feb15, 2007