FAA Safety Briefing Magazine

The FAA Safety Policy Voice of Non-commercial General Aviation

A Pilot's Guide to Weather

The Summer 2026 issue of FAA Safety Briefing magazine focuses on aviation weather and its critical effect on safe GA flying. Articles review some basic causes of weather activity, how certain conditions can affect pilot safety, and tools you can use to aid your weather decision-making process.

Download the Summer 2026 issue or use the links below to read each article on our blog.

Feature Articles


	Steering Around the Storms A GA Guide to Understanding Thunderstorms
	Beyond the Briefing Navigating the Physics-Based Traps of Wild Weather
	Silver Linings, Silver Bullets, and Other Fictions Avoiding VFR Flight Into Instrument Weather
	Air Masses and Fronts The Movers and Shakers of Weather
	Too Much Weather How to Choose Which Resource to Use and When
	The Weather Plan You Never Write Down Understanding Flight Plans, Flight Following, and Search-and-Rescue Services
	Get Cloudwise Know Your Cloud Types and the Altitudes They Form Download the NOAA Cloudwise/Weatherwise Poster (PDF)

Departments

	Sharpening Your Summer Safety Weather Skills Jumpseat: An Executive Policy Perspective
	A Pilot’s Guide to Hypothermia and Hyperthermia Aeromedical Advisory: A Checkup on All Things Aeromedical
	An Update to Your Forecasting Checklist: FAA Resources and Safety Reminders
	Eyes in the Sky — For Safety Drone Debrief: drone safety roundup
	A Guide to Post-Storm Airframe Integrity and Corrosion Risks Nuts, Bolts, and Electrons: GA Maintenance Issues
	Beware of the Green Dot Syndrome Vertically Speaking: Safety Issues for Rotorcraft Pilots
	On the Winds of Change On Final: An Editor’s Perspective
	Cohl Pope, FAA’s Program Management Office Faces: FAA Employee Profile