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FAA publishes 'Aviation Weather Handbook'

The FAA's Aviation Weather Handbook consolidates weather information from several advisory circulars into one place and operates as a technical reference for anyone flying in the national airspace system.

The FAA is studying whether pilots have the know-how to assess weather data quality and timeliness. Photo by David Tulis.

The handbook, published on December 20, is the result of a yearslong effort to streamline user access to aviation weather guidance.

Information in the handbook comes from the most-used weather products and information and meets the FAA's standards for pilot weather training and certification.

"Publication of the Aviation Weather Handbook is the culmination of 3+ years of hard work by Flight Standards and a host of others within the aviation weather community," FAA aviation safety manager, James Marks said. "The new handbook combines information and guidance from 6 separate weather related advisory circulars into a single source document to support pilots, dispatchers, and operators with flight planning and decision making."

The handbook is available for download from the FAA's website; however, the FAA says it is essential for users to be "familiar with and apply the pertinent parts of Title 14 CFR and the Aeronautical Information Manual."

The handbook is currently available online in PDF format. The 500-page document can be downloaded onto mobile devices and computers and can be viewed with a PDF reader app.

Niki Britton

eMedia Content Producer
eMedia Content Producer Niki Britton joined AOPA in 2021. She is a private pilot who enjoys flying her 1969 Cessna 182 and taking aerial photographs.
Topics: Pilot Weather Briefing Services, Weather

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