Section 5. Area Forecast (FA)

9-5-1. GENERAL

a. Area forecasts (FA) are available through the WMSCR and provide an overview of weather conditions which could impact aviation operations. FAs are issued by the Aviation Weather Center (AWC) in Kansas City, Missouri, the Alaska Aviation Weather Unit (AAWU) in Anchorage, Alaska, and the Weather Forecast Office (WFO) in Honolulu, Hawaii. The delineation of the areas is specified in the National Weather Service Instruction 10­811. Canadian and Mexican FAs are also available through WMSCR.

b. FAs consist of the following elements according to each geographical location in TBL 9­5­1.

TBL 9-5-1
Area Forecast Elements

9-5-2. AREA FORECAST (FA) SCHEDULE

FAs are issued three times a day in the contiguous U.S., Alaska, and the Gulf of Mexico; and four times a day in Hawaii and the Caribbean. The issuance times are in TBL 9­5­2.

TBL 9-5-2
Area Forecast Schedule

	Boston and Miami(UTC)	Chicago and Fort Worth (UTC)	San Francisco and Salt Lake City (UTC)	Gulf of Mexico (UTC)	Caribbean (UTC)	Hawaii (UTC)	Alaska (UTC)
1st Issuance	0845 DT 0945 ST	0945 DT 1045 ST	1045 DT 1145 ST	0130	0330	0340	0145 DT 0245 ST
2ndIssuance	1745 DT 1845 ST	1845 DT 1945 ST	1945 DT 2045 ST	1030	0930	0940	0745 DT 0845 ST
3rd Issuance	0045 DT 0145 ST	0145 DT 0245 ST	0245 DT 0345 DT	1830	1530	1540	1345 DT 1445 ST
4th Issuance					2130	2140	1945 DT 2045 ST
Note:  DT – Daylight Time, ST – Standard Time, UTC – Coordinated Universal Time

9-5-3. DISTRIBUTION

Distribution of FAs is made by WMSCR in accordance with a predetermined list for each circuit based upon intra­circuit coordinated requirements.