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NWS Honolulu Defines Aviation Mission

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NWS Honolulu Defines Aviation Mission July 2004 National Weather Service Volume 3, Number 3 NWS Honolulu Defines Aviation Mission By Raymond Tanabe, Aviation Program Leader, WFO Honolulu, HI In this Issue: [email protected] Situated in the middle of the Pa- takeoff or land in the Hawaiian air- NWS Honolulu Defines cific Ocean, the Hawai’ian Islands are space daily. Aviation Mission 1 one of the most remote areas on the Commercial air carriers service the earth. The islands’ topography varies number one industry in Hawai’i, tour- Tracking Volcanic Ash from sea level to near 14,000 feet. ism by shuttling tourists and residents In the Mariana Islands 4 Hawaii consists of eight main is- between islands and out of the state. lands with a total land area of 6,425 In addition, numerous helicopter com- NWS Pacific Region square miles and a population of ap- panies offer tours of the islands. Redraws Lines to proximately 1.3 million. Due to its General aviation pilots take fisher- Reflect Met Watch geographic isolation and its multiple man to spot large schools of fish, Office Change 8 island configuration, Hawai’i is im- shuttle people between neighboring is- mensely reliant on aviation for its so- lands, transport private aircraft into and cial and economic livelihood. out of Hawai’i, or simply fly for rec- More than 1,200 commercial, reation. When’s the Next Front? military and general aviation flights Continued on Page 2 Would you like an email when a new edition of The Front is published? Email: [email protected]. Managing Editor: Michael Graf [email protected] Editor/Layout: Melody Magnus [email protected] Mission Statement To enhance aviation safety by increasing the pilot’s knowledge of weather systems and processes and National Weather Service products and services. Figure 1. TAF sites within the Hawaiian Islands. 1 While Hawai’i is generally known for its pleasant climate year round, the topography, prevailing winds, and the location in the Pacific Ocean foster a wide variety of weather-related avia- tion hazards. Weather and climate wise, Hawai’i is one of the most diverse areas in the world. Aviation forecasters in Hawai’i are constantly monitoring rapidly changing weather patterns over the Pacific for their possible effects on the islands. Weather systems include snow- fall atop the summits of Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa, tropical cyclones, high winds and heavy rains. NWS Honolulu is co-located with the University of Hawai’i, School of Ocean and Earth Sciences and Tech- Figure 2. Hawaiian Islands Area Forecast boundary. nology, Department of Meteorology. The strong partnership between WFO Honolulu staff and the university aids Wind and Temperature operations and research activities for The full suite of products can be Aloft Bulletins both partners. seen at http://www.prh.noaa.gov/ After September 14, NCEP will WFO Honolulu is unique within hnl. run automated Wind and Tempera- the NWS infrastructure. In addition to ture Aloft Bulletins for current and ad- normal WFO responsibilities, WFO Terminal Aerodrome ditional locations in and around the Honolulu also serves international avia- Forecasts (TAFs) Hawai’ian Islands. WFO Honolulu will tion customers with Significant Meteo- As of October 1, WFO Hono- produce the Upper wind and tem- rological Information (SIGMETs) for lulu will issue TAFs for nine airports perature forecasts available for Lihue, the large portion of the Pacific Ocean in the Hawai’ian Islands, along with Honolulu, Kahului and Hilo. covered by the Oakland FIR. See the Midway Island and Pago Pago, Ameri- SIGMET section below and Figure can Samoa in the South Pacific. Area Forecasts 3 for further explanation. TAF responsibility will move from Area Forecasts provide an over- the current WFO Honolulu for the fol- view of weather conditions impact- Aviation Products lowing locations: ing aviation operations. They serves as The aviation forecaster handles the aids for flight planning and pilot full suite of products issued by WFO ♦ Johnston Island will be discontin- weather briefings. Honolulu but specifically is responsible ued due to closure of the airfield NWS Honolulu produces an Area for the following: Forecast for the main Hawai’ian Is- ♦ Wake Island will become the re- lands and coastal waters out to 40 nau- sponsibility of the DOD Air Force ♦ TAFs tical miles (See Figure 2). The fore- ♦ Kwajalein, Majuro and Kosrae will ♦ Wind/temperature aloft forecasts cast includes a synopsis of the overall become the responsibility of WFO ♦ weather pattern, a description of the Area Forecasts (FAs) Guam. ♦ Route Forecasts (ROFORs) expected conditions over a 12 hour period, and an abbreviated outlook ♦ SIGMETs For more details on the transfer section covering the 12 to 18 hour time ♦ Airman’s Meteorological Adviso- of duties, see the article on Page 13. frame. The FA contains specific infor- ries (AIRMETs). The locations of the sites are illustrated mation for different geographic areas. ♦ Aviation forecasts in Figure 1. 2 SIGMETs Moderate or severe turbulence, hail and or visibility less than 3 miles As a designated a Meteorologi- volcanic ash cloud. affecting more than 50 percent cal Watch Office (MWO), WFO Ho- of an area at any one time. nolulu is responsible for issuing SIG- AIRMETs METs in the portion of the Oakland AIRMETs serve the same pur- Coded Route Oceanic Flight Information Region poses as SIGMETs, but have lower Forecasts (ROFORs) (FIR) south of 30N (Figure 3). thresholds. AIRMETs may be impor- Aviation forecasters prepare SIGMETs inform in-flight avia- tant for any pilot, but are key to pilots coded ROFORs for regularly sched- tors of potentially hazardous weather sensitive to AIRMET criteria and to uled flights and upon request. These occurring or expected to occur along those without instrument ratings (VFR forecasts are issued several hours in flight routes and aids in preflight pilots). advance of a scheduled departure. weather briefings. SIGMETs for lev- WFO Honolulu issues AIRMETs Currently, WFO Honolulu routinely els at or below FL530 will be issued along interisland air routes and flight issues four ROFORS: for: areas within 40nm of the main Hawai’ian Islands, up to and including ♦ Santa Barbara to Honolulu ♦ Active thunderstorms Flight Level 450. ♦ San Francisco to Honolulu ♦ While AIRMETs are normally is- Tropical cyclones ♦ Majuro to Kwajelein (Republic of ♦ sued when the flight hazard is expected Severe line squall Marshall Islands) to cover a 3000 square mile area, they ♦ Severe turbulence ♦ Majuro to Tarawa, Kiribas also are issued for significant areas of ♦ Heavy hail mountain obscuration even if the area ♦ Severe icing Outreach Efforts is less than 3000 square miles. NWS is- ♦ WFO Honolulu provided over Marked mountain waves sues AIRMETs for the following: ♦ Widespread sand/dust storm two dozen presentations last year to ♦ customers about aviation hazards in Volcanic ash cloud ♦ Moderate icing ♦ Hawai’i. These included seminars dur- Tornado (local procedure) Moderate turbulence ing new and recurrent pilot and dis- ♦ Sustained surface wind speeds NWS issues SIGMETs for phe- patcher training classes, presentations of 30 knots or more. to general aviation organizations, and nomena at levels above FL530 for ♦ Ceilings less than 1,000 feet and/ Figure 3. WFO Honolulu SIGMET area of responsibility. 3 talks to various other user groups. Tracking Volcanic Ash The Aviation Program Leader is frequently in contact with a variety of In the Mariana Islands customers in the aviation community. This contact includes the FAA Hono- By Michael G. Middlebrooke, Senior Forecaster, WFO Guam lulu Automated Flight Services Station [email protected] AFSS whose staff provides Pilot Weather Briefings (PWBs) throughout the Pacific and is the only such facility It Began as a Quiet Shift. WVPQ21 PGUM 101227 in the nation that provides both Inter- At WFO Guam, the evening shift WSVPQ1 national and Domestic PWBs. of May 10, 2003, was fairly quiet until A special email address, 1030Z. At that time, the forecaster on KZOA SIGMET NOVEMBER 1 VALID [email protected], was 101225/101625 PGUM- duty noted that infrared (IR) satellite created specifically for aviation users’ OAKLAND OCEANIC FIR. VOLCA- imagery showed a rapidly-growing requests, comments and questions. NIC ASH CLOUD FM ANATAHAN cloud mass near Anatahan, a small VOLCANO BASED ON SAT OBS. WFO Honolulu’s volcanic island 80 miles north of Saipan HIGH LEVEL CLOUD AND ASH in the Northern Mariana Islands. Future in Graphics. PLUME IN AREA BOUNDED BY The upper part of the cloud was N1630E14550 TO N14E146 TO Aviation customers in Hawai’i and moving southward, while the lower N14E145 TO N1630E14510. LOW nationwide have expressed the need portion was moving west. Puzzled at LEVEL CLOUD AND ASH PLUME IN for graphical forecast. The Aviation first, the forecaster called WFO Ho- AREA BOUNDED BY N1630E14550 Weather Center (AWC) in Kansas City TO N1630E14430 TO nolulu, then placed a call to the Volca- has been leading the nationwide effort N16E14430 TO N1630E14550. nic Ash Advisory Center (VAAC) in for graphics aviation forecasts. MAX TOPS FL350. HIGH LEVEL Washington, DC. WFO Honolulu is working closely PLUME MOV S 25 KT. LOW LEVEL At 1225Z, WFO Guam issued a with the AWC to ensure future graphi- PLUME MOV W 20 KT. INTSF. volcanic ash SIGMET—the first of cal applications and products will be over 250—on the only eruption of consistent nationally and adequately The following day, the eruption Anatahan recorded in modern times: serve the needs of the Pacific. WFO continued full force, as shown in Honolulu is scheduled to begin pro- duction of Graphical Area Forecasts in January 2006. In the future, the NWS gridded aviation database will provide a seam- less database of information relevant to the local, national, and international aviation community. Pilots will be able to produce a customized forecast on their own for any flight at any time.
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