National Weather Service - About the Boston CWSU

Mission:

Center Weather Service meteorologists provide weather support and consultation to FAA air traffic managers and controllers. Rerouting of aircraft around hazardous weather is based largely on forecasts provided by the CWSU meteorologist.

Operations:

The National Weather Service meteorologists at the Boston CWSU provide formal weather briefings to FAA Traffic Management personnel and Air Traffic supervisors within the Air Route Traffic Control Center (ARTCC) between the hours of 600 am and 900 pm. Verbal briefings are given to supervisors and controllers at the ARTCC, Terminal Radar Approach Control (TRACON) and Air Traffic Control Tower facilities throughout the ZBW airspace, as well as to equipment technicians when weather conditions dictate.

Several types of written products are also provided by the CWSU meteorologists. The Meteorological Impact Statement (MIS) is a planning forecast and discussion of weather conditions expected to impact ZBW air traffic. We issue the MIS product as needed throughout the day. Our emphasis is on the 0-6 hour time frame.

The Center Weather Advisory (CWA) is a short-term warning of hazardous weather conditions provided to all aviation interests, including private pilots, towers, flight service stations, and commercial airlines. CWAs are issued as needed for weather hazards up to two (2) hours from issuance time. Those hazards may include: thunderstorms, icing, clear air (high level) turbulence, low level turbulence, or low level wind shear. Thus, a CWA is similar to, but more localized than, Airmets and Sigmets issued by the Aviation Weather Center (AWC) in Kansas City, Missouri.

We issue our Weather Briefing sheets at least 3 times per day. Our seasonally-determined TRACON forecast graphics (Tactical Decision Aids, or "TDAs") include a Boston Sea Breeze TDA, Boston and Cape TRACON Convective TDA, and a Boston TRACON Icing TDA. Additional TDAs may be added in the future based on customer needs.

Staff:

The meteorologists that make up the staff of the Boston CWSU have a combined 100+ years of aviation forecasting experience. They are:

Scott Reynolds, Meteorologist-in-Charge
John Hofmann, Meteorologist
Weir Lundstedt, Meteorologist
John Stansfield, Meteorologist