The National Weather Service has 122 Weather Forecast Offices (WFOs) across the United States, Puerto Rico and Guam staffed 24/7 with meteorologists dedicated to providing weather expertise at a more-localized level to the public.
There are 3 main products issed by WFOs in support of the aviation community:
Terminal Aerodrome Forecasts (TAFs) - These forecasts help govern airplane take-off and landing operations for selection airports across the country over a designated 24 to 36 hour period, and are consistently updated to best reflect future weather conditions.
Area Forecast Discussions (AFDs) - This is a semi-technical text-based product used to explain the scientific rationale behind a forecast. One section of this product is dedicated to supporting the TAF issuance for a WFO. It offers background details on what to expect, why certain impacts are expected, and points of uncertainty that may cause a deviation in the forecast. You can quickly view any office’s aviation discussion using this clickable map here.
Airport Weather Warnings (AWWs) - AWWs are a notification text product that highlight when adverse weather conditions are expected for an individual airport. The NWS works with local airport management to establish local thresholds when impacts become likely to affect the airport ground operations area. Only certain airports have this established agreement, and is not applicable to all terminals that have a TAF issuance.
WFOs also work closely with the Center Weather Service Units (CWSUs) and other aviation partners, especially in high-impact corridors, to ensure consistent messaging to the entire aviation community. In addition to the forecast product support, WFOs also maintain some of the weather equipment utilized at local airports across the nation. These sensors are called Automated Surface Observing Systems (ASOSs) or Automated Weather Observing Systems (AWOSs), depending on the unit installed. Every WFO includes electronic technicians with specialized training to repair and maintain these sensors.
Many WFOs have created specialized webpages to provide further aviation-relevant information for their area of responsibility. You can check out their aviation webpage or the office's main page by clicking on the map below.
