Seasonal Weather Briefing

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Seasonal Weather Briefing

• Fall Winter Weather Hazards

Provided by Fort Rucker Weather Operations
(FRWXOPS)
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Overview

• Products Services
• Hours of Operation
• Climatology
• Whats New
• Fall-Winter Hazards
• Turbulence Low level wind shear (LLWS)
• Icing
• Thunderstorms
• Tornadoes
• Hurricanes

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Products Services

• FRWXOPS Provides
• Weather Briefings (MEF, IFR, Other)
• Weather Watches, Warnings, Advisories
• Observing (Automated)
• PMSV (Pilot - Metro Service)
• Climatology
• Electro-Optic Support
• Space Weather Support (GPS, HF/UHF, etc)
• Seasonal Weather Briefings
• Anything else you could ever need

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Hours of Operation

• Observing (KOZR)
• 24 X 7, including federal holidays
• Forecasting (KOZR)
• 00L Monday 01L Saturday, excluding federal
  holidays
• Observing (K79J)
• 0830L 1630L Monday through Friday, excluding
  federal holidays
• Observing (KTOI)
• 0630L 2030L Monday through Friday, excluding
  federal holidays

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Local Flying Area
32,000 sq miles of airspace
Civilian Airport Base Field Stage Field
Live Fire Range
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PIREPs
I want you
to give me a PIREP
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PIREPs

• Limited data points in LFA
• May be used to amend the MEF/-1
• Improves forecast products services
• PMSV Freqs 134.1 and 348.8

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Whats New

• Automated Weather Observing Systems
• A system that automatically generates
  observations
• FMQ-19
• ASOS
• Replaces legacy equipment
• New way of doing business
• Official observing point
• No more celestial dome
• Frees up observer/forecaster for more in-depth
  MISSIONWATCH

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Whats New

• Automated Weather Observing Systems
• Supplemented/backed up as mandated by the AF
• Supplement To manually provide wx elements that
  are beyond the automated systems capability to
  measure/report
• Back up To manually provide wx elements when
  automated sensors are malfunctioning and are
  operationally significant

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Whats New

• Automated Weather Observing Systems
• Supplemented for the following elements
• Tornado/Funnel Cloud
• Volcanic Ash
• Sandstorms/Duststorms
• Visibility lt ¼ SM
• Hail ½

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Whats New

• Automated Weather Observing Systems
• Backed up for the following elements
• Wind speed/direction
• Visibility
• Present Wx
• Sky cover up to and including 12,000 ft
• Altimeter
• Temperature/Dew Point
• Lightning location
• Layer of clouds or obscuration below 600 ft

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Whats New

• FRWXOPS will continue to provide operationally
  significant wx data and mitigate any potential
  flight safety risks in other ways
• Lightning watches, advisories, and warnings
• MEF
• PIREPs
• Radar/Satellite Imagery
• Lightning Detection

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Whats New

• Old Observation
• New Observation

SPECI KOZR 072316Z 30000KT 10SM VCTS FEW013
BKN040CB BKN250 25/22 A2986 RMK AO2A OCNL LTGICCG
E-SE TS 8E-SE MOV SE
SPECI KOZR 072316Z 30000KT 10SM VCTS FEW013
BKN040 BKN250 25/22 A2986 RMK AO2
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Whats New

• FRWXOPS will maintain a vigilant
  METWATCH/MISSIONWATCH to ensure that Ft Ruckers
  aircrew and aircraft remain safe and maximize
  their training time

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Whats New

• New method of disseminating MEF amendments

FRWXOPS
KOZR Ops
HUB Radio
KOZR TowerKLOR OpsKHEY OpsKFHK OpsKSXS
OpsATTC OpsFlat Iron Ops
Active S/FMolinelli TowerAirborne Crews
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Climatology
Tmax Tmin Tmean WindD WindS
Precip JAN 59 39 49 N
5 5.01 FEB 63 42 53
N 5 5.37 MAR 70
48 59 NW 5
5.80 APR 78 55 67
NW 4 4.23 MAY 84 63
74 NE-E 4
4.05 JUN 89 70 80
S-SW 4 4.63 JUL 91 72
82 SW 4
5.21 AUG 90 72 81
NE-E 3 4.12 SEP 87 68
77 NE-E 3
3.94 OCT 78 56 67
NE-E 4 3.00 NOV 69 47
58 N 4
3.41 DEC 62 41 52 N
5 4.30
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PERCENT 1000/3
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PERCENT 500/1
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Seasonal Weather Hazards

• Fall-Winter
• Turbulence / Low Level Wind Shear (LLWS)
• Icing
• Thunderstorms
• Tornadoes
• Hurricanes

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Turbulence LLWS

• Turbulence
• The jet stream creates wind speed and/or
  direction gradients as it advects weather systems
  across the US
• LLWS
• A drastic change in wind speed and/or direction
  in the lower 2000 feet of the atmosphere
• Affects lift of aircraft

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Icing

• Icing
• Increases the weight of the aircraft
• Decreases lift
• Can block air flow to engine, thereby reducing
  power

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Icing

• Icing Facts
• Favorable temperature range is M20-03 Celsius
• Heaviest icing is generally between 0-M10
  Celsius
• 5 types (clear, rime, mixed, frost, induction)
• 4 intensities (Trace, Light, Moderate, Severe)

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Icing

• Clear Icing
• Glossy, clear, or translucent ice formed by the
  relatively freezing of large super-cooled
  droplets
• 0-M16 Celsius and M08-M10 Celsius
• Cumulus and stratus
• The most dangerous of all icing

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Icing

• Rime Icing
• Rough, milky, opaque, ice formed by the rapid
  freezing of small super-cooled droplets
• M10-M20 Celsius
• Cumuliform

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Icing

• Mixed Icing
• A mix of clear and rime icing formed due to a
  combination of liquid droplets and ice particles
• M10-M15 Celsius
• Stratiform or cumuliform

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Icing

• Frost Icing
• Light, feathery deposit of ice crystals that form
  when water vapor contacts a sub-freezing surface
• Subfreezing

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Icing

• Induction Icing
• Forms when super-cooled droplets are pulled into
  the engine of an aircraft may affect engine or
  fuel system
• M03-03 Celsius
• Any cloud or no cloud

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Thunderstorms

• 3 ingredients (MIL)
• Moisture
• Instability
• Lift

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Thunderstorms
LIGHTNING HAIL HEAVY PRECIP LLWS
MICROBURSTS SEVERE TURBC SEVERE ICING
THUNDERSTORMS
IMPLY
Decreasing, but not gone.
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Thunderstorms

• Lightning
• Causes aircraft damage
• Most often occurs
• Within 5000 feet of the freezing level
• In light precipitation
• In light or negligible turbulence
• Microburst
• Sudden down-rush of air caused by a collapsing
  thunderstorm
• To avoid microbursts, steer clear of thunderstorms

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Thunderstorms

• Hail
• Destroys aircraft lifting surface
• Turbulence
• Most severe in strong updrafts
• Icing
• Freezing Level can drop by 10,000 feet in
  stronger downdrafts
• LLWS
• Can expand (outflow boundary) to as much as
  20 NM from the storms outside boundary

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Tornadoes

• Favored months of occurrence
• March through May
• November
• Favored hours of occurrence
• 1200L through 1800L
• Avoiding thunderstorms will prevent encounters
  with tornadoes

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Tornadoes

• Peak Season
• March-May
• November
• Peak hours
• 1200L-1800L

Tornado Alley
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AL Tornadoes By Month
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AL Tornadoes By Hour
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AL Tornadoes By County
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Hurricanes

• Atlantic Hurricane Season runs from
  01 June - 30 November
• All warnings and advisories pertaining to
  tropical storm/hurricane activity will be
  provided to the DoD by the National Hurricane
  Center
• We cannot and will not deviate from the forecast
  track and intensity issued by the NHC
• We, in conjunction with the 26 OWS, tailor the
  forecast for Ft Rucker

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Hurricanes

• Hurricane Conditions
• Governed by Fort Rucker RMOPS Vol V
• HURCON Definitions
• HURCON 5 01 June - 30 November
• HURCON 4 72 Hours prior to 50 Knot Winds
• HURCON 3 48 Hours prior to 50 Knot Winds
• HURCON 2 24 Hours prior to 50 Knot Winds
• HURCON 1 12 Hours prior to 50 Knot Winds
• Note Conditions based on sustained wind speed,
• not winds gusts.

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Hurricanes
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Hurricanes

• Another active year
• 15 named storms
• 8 hurricanes
• 4 major hurricanes (Cat 3 or higher)
• The time to prepare is NOW

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Conclusion

• Numerous hazards exist during the fall and winter
  months
• Turbulence LLWS
• Icing
• Thunderstorms (lightning, hail, heavy
  precipitation, microbursts)
• Tornadoes
• Hurricanes
• Respect the weather

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How To Reach Us

• Visit us on the www
• http//www.rucker.army.mil/6weather
• Check us out on CCTV
• Give us a call _at_ 8385 or 8397
• Or stop by and see us!

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Your feedback is
Important to us
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Any Questions?