Alaska Weather Chart Change Proposed 

Tom George, AOPA Alaska Regional Manager 

The National Weather Service’s Alaska Aviation Weather Unit is soliciting feedback on planned updates to its Surface and Significant Weather charts.  The public notice inviting feedback includes links to sample products so interested parties can see what the new charts would look like. In general, changes to the Surface Chart would add considerably more detail, showing the probability of different conditions occurring (including rain, snow, smoke, and other conditions). Weather fronts would be broken out into a separate Surface Analysis Chart. 

The Significant Weather Chart would contain similar mapping units to what we see today, showing forecast IFR, marginal VFR, and other information, but with a small change to color-coded map units. The frequency of both sets of chart updates would remain unchanged. From AOPA’s initial inspection, the biggest changes are to the Surface Chart, which will be much more detailed in the depiction of forecast conditions. 

Feedback is invited through October 29, but don’t wait to review the proposed changes. To look at a sample, with the ability to toggle between current and proposed charts, visit the NWS website at https://www.weather.gov/aawu/graphicupdate . 

Tom George serves as the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association’s Regional Manager for Alaska. He resides in Fairbanks and owns a Cessna 185. He may be reached at tom.george@aopa.org or 301-695-2092. 

 This article was originally published on AOPA’s website: https://www.aopa.org/advocacy/state-advocacy/Alaska/