What is a WAFC?

Why do we need WAFCs? 

Weather hazards which affect aviation such as turbulence, icing and convective storms can have a significant impact on the comfort, safety and timing of a flight. According to EUROCONTROL, in 2018 weather was the second most common reason for flight delays, so it is essential that pilots are informed about meteorological conditions along the routes they take and at their departure and destination aerodromes to help them make better planning decisions. 

To meet pilots’ needs for meteorological information, in the early 1980s the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) developed the requirements for the World Area Forecast System (WAFS) to include the seamless forecasting of upper air winds, temperatures and significant weather hazards to enhance safety and identify potential for delays.

To provide this information to the aviation community, two World Area Forecast Centres (WAFCs) were established – and remain the only two in the world. One is operated by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in the USA and the other WAFC is operated by the UK Met Office. 

What information does a WAFC provide? 

SIGWX charts

Below is an example of a Significant Weather (SIGWX) Chart which is produced by hand every six hours by our WAFC meteorologists. The SIGWX charts are an essential tool for pilots enabling them to get broad overview of the weather relevant to their flight, identify the location of the jet stream, and areas of potentially hazardous weather. On this chart it is possible to see the jet streams (areas where the wind speed exceeds 80 knots), areas of cumulonimbus clouds and turbulence, erupting volcanoes, and tropical cyclones (Hurricane Dorian can be seen just off the coast of Florida). 

An upgrade to the WAFS SIGWX forecasts is coming in November 2024, which will introduce forecasts for multiple timesteps and changes to the content of the T+24 SIGWX (notably to cumulonimbus areas). 

Global hazard fields

In addition to the SIGWX charts we also produce global gridded data sets of wind and temperature which can be used to create efficient flight plans, and also gridded data sets of hazardous phenomena such as cumulonimbus cloud, clear air turbulence and icing. This data can be integrated into, and visualised by, flight planning software and play a key part in the decision making process.  

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