FOR MOST OF US, traditional weather forecast products serve well when it comes to short-term planning. We know what to check for a flight today or tomorrow, Mnd most of the information is in one place-on the Aviation Weather Center website. To learn about initial conditions, we have hourly metars at many airports. Terminal aerodrome forecasts (TAFs) are issued four times a day and give forecasts 24 hours into the future, as do winds and temperature aloft forecasts, forecast icing potential (FIP) guidance, and surface-to-Flight Level 240 prog charts. Aviation surface forecasts show surface features up to 18 hours out. The graphical forecast for aviation (GFA) tool is even more helpful in identifying-or avoiding-instrument meteorological conditions and other adverse weather, and it predicts 18 hours into the future as well. For longer-range guidance, convective outlooks from the Storm Prediction Center (spc.noaa. gov) go out as far as eight days, and the Weather Prediction Center's projected surface analyses (ncep.noaa.gov) give seven days' worth of charts. Meanwhile, those who use ForeFlight can take a look three days in the future by clicking on the "MOS" link under the Weather tab on an airport page. MOS (Model Output Statistics) usually appears in a coded, text format but ForeFlight provides plain-language TAF-style summaries. The nice thing about ForeFlight's MOS is that they're provided for airports that may not be served by TAFs.
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