Alaskan Weather Resources to Explore 

Tom George, AOPA 

Fall has firmly arrived along with hunting season in most of Alaska.  Figuring out if the weather is good enough to fly, while always an important question, becomes a little more critical with the shorter days, cooler temperatures, and whatever else Mother Nature decides to throw at us.  Here are a few tools for pilots to keep in mind as we enter the season. 

Alaska Aviation Guidance Product 
Looking at the current weather prior to a planned flight is one thing, but what will it be like a couple of hours from now at a distant airport?  While Alaska only has a small number of Terminal Area Forecasts (TAFs), typically covering the areas around the larger airports, the National Weather Service created an experimental product about five years ago called the Alaska Aviation Guidance (AAG) product which provides TAF-like information.  Users provided feedback, the FAA evaluated it and, while it is still labeled as “experimental” for technical reasons, we now have a six-hour look ahead at sixty-one airports across the state (see the map below) to help in planning VFR flights. However, there are a couple differences between AAGs and TAFs to be aware of.  Where a TAF looks 24 hours ahead, the AAG only gives a six-hour prediction.  And while TAFs are only updated every six hours, the AAG is updated hourly.  The AAG is solely based on the observations of the local AWOS or ASOS, and does not forecast conditions such as convective activity, blowing snow or smoke.  These forecasts may be found at: https://www.weather.gov/arh/aag  

Third-party Weather Cameras 
The FAA Weather Camera Program started as a university graduate student project and has become a resource Alaskans have grown to count on for over 20 years.  It has now matured into a national system expanding across the country as pilots experience the benefits of being able to see the weather and compare it with clear weather pictures and METARs where they are available.  While FAA continues to add cameras, the system is also growing by the addition of third-party sites, where a non-FAA entity makes access to their cameras available on the FAA’s website.  Recent additions to the system include nine camera sites: In Anchorage at Merrill Field (PAMR); in Prince William Sound at Naked Island, Pigot and Latouche Peak; near Cordova at Flag Point and the Million Dollar Bridge; in the Juneau area at Douglas Island, Spuhn Island, and the Juneau Tram; and in Shelikof Strait at Katmai Wilderness Lodge.  A huge “Thank You” to the companies and organizations that share their data. The weather cameras may be found at: https://weathercams.faa.gov/ 

Experimental Cross Section 
Improvements in the world of weather satellites are allowing for the creation of new types of weather products.  The Cooperative Institute for Research in the Atmosphere (CIRA) developed a tool to depict a cross-section view along a flight route to show cloud layers and icing conditions.  Initially, this tool was just for fixed routes, like between Anchorage and Fairbanks, but has evolved to the point that users can enter a custom route to generate a cross section, using airports or even lat/long values for your favorite spot.  This tool takes some time to become familiar with, so pour yourself a cup of coffee and check it out:  https://aviation.cira.colostate.edu/define-custom-cross-section  

NWS Alaska Weather Broadcast 
For many years, the National Weather Service (NWS) in Alaska hosted a TV Program, Alaska Weather, which included segments on aviation and marine forecasts. The beauty of this program was that it gave a three-day look ahead at systems that would impact the state – and then broke them down with the specifics of interest to pilots: categorial forecasts for VFR, marginal VFR and IFR conditions, and turbulence and icing forecasts.  Due to changes at Alaska Public Media, who partnered with NWS in recording and airing the half-hour program, it is no longer broadcast on television. The NWS Alaska Region continues to produce the segments and posts them on YouTube daily.  The aviation, marine, and general weather segments are now separated and can be viewed independently.  If you are not already using them, try watching these to get the big picture, to help anticipate whether to go sooner, later, or not at all.  The Alaskan Aviation Safety Foundation has led the charge to try and bring this information source back to the television airways, so far without success. In the meantime, you may find it here: https://www.youtube.com/@nwsalaska  

More weather data needed 
AOPA, working with the Alaska Airmen’s Association and other organizations, continues to advocate for additional weather reporting in Alaska.  We are pleased with the additional AWOS units being fielded by the Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities and are looking forward to seeing a new generation of weather reporting stations that are still undergoing evaluation by the FAA.  More infrastructure is needed to improve aviation safety in Alaska, and it is exciting to see these new capabilities start to come online.