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News & Media Changes to airmets from the National Weather Service

Changes to airmets from the National Weather Service

July 6, 2006

Changes to airmets from the National Weather Service

Effective July 26, 2006

THE FOLLOWING AIRMET STANDARDS WILL BE IMPLEMENTED FOR ALL AIRMETS:

  1. THE FREQUENCY OF THE HAZARD OCCURRENCE /OCNL/ AND /FRQ/ WILL NO LONGER BE INCLUDED.
  2. TREND REMARKS WILL NO LONGER BE INCLUDED.
  3. THE 6 TO 12-HOUR FORECAST OUTLOOK AREAS WILL BE DELINEATED WITH HIGH ALTITUDE VOR LOCATIONS PRECEDED WITH THE /BOUNDED BY/ DESCRIPTOR.
  4. THE REASON FOR AMENDING ... CORRECTING OR CANCELING AN AIRMET WILL NO LONGER BE INCLUDED.
  5. SIGMET REFERENCE STATEMENTS WILL NOT REFER TO THE SIGMET HAZARD. STATEMENTS SUCH AS /FOR AREAS OF POSS SEV TURB/ AND /FOR AREAS OF POSS SEV ICE/ WILL NO LONGER BE INCLUDED. INSTEAD THE STATEMENT /SEE SIGMET XXXX SERIES/ WILL BE USED. FOR EXAMPLE ... /SEE SIGMET TANGO SERIES/.

THE FOLLOWING AIRMET STANDARDS WILL BE IMPLEMENTED FOR ALL AIRMET SIERRA:

  1. AIRMET IFR: THE CAUSE OF THE VISIBILITY RESTRICTION WILL BE LIMITED TO /PCPN/ ... /FU/ ... /HZ/ ... /BR/ ... /FG/ AND /BLSN/.
  2. AIRMET MTN OBSCN: THE CAUSE OF THE OBSCURATION WILL BE LIMITED TO /CLDS/ ... /PCPN/ ... /FU/ ... /HZ/ ... /BR/ AND /FG/.

THE FOLLOWING AIRMET STANDARDS WILL BE IMPLEMENTED FOR ALL AIRMET TANGO:

  1. AIRMET TURB: THE CAUSE OF THE TURBULENCE WILL NO LONGER BE INCLUDED.
  2. AIRMET STG SFC WND: THE CAUSE AND DIRECTION OF THE WIND WILL NO LONGER BE INCLUDED.
  3. LLWS POTENTIAL: WILL INCLUDE A LIST OF AFFECTED STATES.
  4. LLWS POTENTIAL: WILL BE DELINEATED USING HIGH ALTITUDE VOR LOCATIONS PRECEDED BY THE /BOUNDED BY/ DESCRIPTOR.
  5. LLWS POTENTIAL: LLWS INFORMATION WILL NOT INCLUDE PHRASES SUCH AS /BLW 2000 FT/ OR /BLW AGL 020/.
  6. LLWS POTENTIAL: THE CAUSE OF THE LLWS WILL NO LONGER BE INCLUDED.

THE FOLLOWING AIRMET STANDARDS WILL BE IMPLEMENTED FOR ALL AIRMET ZULU:

  1. AIRMET ICE: THE ICING TYPES /RIME/ ... /MXD/ AND /CLR/ WILL NO LONGER BE INCLUDED.
  2. AIRMET ICE: THE LOCATION OF ICING WITH RESPECT TO CLOUDS AND PRECIPITATION /ICGICIP/ ... /ICGIC/ AND /ICGIP/ WILL NO LONGER BE INCLUDED. INSTEAD THE TERM /ICE/ WILL BE USED.
  3. THE FREEZING LEVEL WILL BE DEFINED AS THE LOWEST FREEZING LEVEL ABOVE GROUND LEVEL OR /SFC/ AS APPROPRIATE.
  4. FREEZING LEVELS WILL BE DELINEATED USING HIGH ALTITUDE VOR LOCATIONS AT INTERVALS OF 4000 FEET ABOVE MEAN SEA LEVEL OR /SFC/ AS APPROPRIATE. FREEZING LEVEL DESCRIPTIONS WILL NOT INCLUDE STATES ... PORTIONS OF STATES OR GEOGRAPHICAL AREAS.
  5. AREAS WITH MULTIPLE FREEZING LEVELS ABOVE THE GROUND WILL BE DELINEATED USING HIGH ALTITUDE VOR LOCATIONS PRECEDED WITH THE /BOUNDED BY/ DESCRIPTOR.
  6. THE RANGE OF FREEZING LEVELS OVER THE AREA WILL BE INCLUDED.

June 7, 2006

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