HIWAS is shutting down

[StevieTimes]

Hazardous Inflight Weather Advisory Service Sunsets

As part of the FAA’s efforts to modernize and streamline service delivery, Flight Service will discontinue the Hazardous Inflight Weather Advisory Service (HIWAS) in the contiguous United States later this year. HIWAS is a continuous recording of inflight weather advisories broadcast over a limited network of VORs that provide pilots with meteorological information related to hazardous weather.

HIWAS is an inflight service not intended to provide a detailed weather briefing. It uses text-to-voice technology to record a broadcast tailored to fit the needs of a specific geographic location. Flight Service created HIWAS when there was a large demand for briefings to alleviate the workload of specialists and reduce wait times for pilots.

With the advent of the internet and other technology, the demand for information from Flight Service specialists has declined. From more than 3,000 specialists in more than 300 facilities during the early 1980s, staffing has decreased to fewer than 400 specialists in three facilities; radio contacts have dropped to less than 900 calls per day from an average of 10,000 per day.

Flight Service will discontinue the text-to-voice recordings of HIWAS with publication of a final policy notice in the Federal Register, which is expected by Sept. 30, 2019. If you have any questions please contact: 9-AWA-ATO-SYSOPS-FS@faa.gov.



from:
FAAST Blast — Clearance Relay Update, HIWAS Sunset, Change is Good
Notice Number: NOTC8488



FAAST Blast — Week of May 19, 2019 – May 25, 2019
Biweekly FAA Safety Briefing News Update

 

[ja_user]

What I read from this, is that we have 400 people answering 900 calls per day over the radio. They must also be answering the phone, because they always act shocked when we use the radio.

 

[Rgbeard]

Any time I have a long XC leg, I enjoy reaching FS on the radio and giving a winds-aloft and turbulence report and get the atis for my destination.

Guess I am old fashioned?

 

[cowman]

I imagine they're becoming pretty redundant with more and more people getting some form of ADS-B in capability.

 

[RyanB]

Too bad, that’s been a classic service to aviation for a long time.

Another resource gone west...

 

[ARFlyer]

Ledios is trying to get out of the radio/phone business. They basically want to make Flight Service 100% online.

I actually used Flight Service via radio while flying at my old airline one evening. Dispatch was ignoring us on ACARS so I looked up the nearest FSS Radio. The guy was so shocked that an airliner was calling to file a PIREP and get a enroute update he had his coworkers come listen.

 

[asicer]

Any time I have a long XC leg, I enjoy reaching FS on the radio and giving a winds-aloft and turbulence report and get the atis for my destination.

I usually just give my PIREPs to approach or center. As for ATIS, if it's not in radio range then it's almost always ancient history by the time I get there. Guess I need a faster plane.

I do find HIWAS useful for those times I forgot to pack my tunes and center is on the phone.

 

[flyingron]

It will probably take the controllers several weeks to stop mentioning HIWAS in their canned SIGMET announcements like they did when Flight Watch went under.

 

[Artimas]

I find it incredible and also hysterical that the FAA wants to modernize weather delivery but METARs are still reported :
"KJFK 251251Z 19008KT 10SM FEW050 SCT250 16/11 A3026 RMK AO2 SLP247 T01560111"

 

[Velocity173]

Back in the day it used to be all voice recorded and not digitized. They had a recording booth for HIWAS, TWEBS and TIBS. Almost everything they do these days can be automated with little human intervention.

 

[ateamer]

Too bad, that’s been a classic service to aviation for a long time.

Another resource gone west...

So were lighted airway beacons, A-N ranges and NDBs.

 

[Cap'n Jack]

I find it incredible and also hysterical that the FAA wants to modernize weather delivery but METARs are still reported :
"KJFK 251251Z 19008KT 10SM FEW050 SCT250 16/11 A3026 RMK AO2 SLP247 T01560111"

When you read a lot of them, it is a very convenient format because it is very concise.
It doesn't matter so much for us in the small planes, but commercial pilots who go great distances, every day it really is better for them. They need to read a lot of these each flight.

NY kennedy airport, 25 May, 1251 UTC (751 local) wind from the south 8 knots,visibility 10 statute miles, few clouds @ 5000' scattered clouds @ 25,000', temperature 16 °C, dewpoint 11 °C (not much change of fog), altimeter 30.26", sea level pressure is 1024.7 hpa, temperature 15.6/dewpoint 11 °C (not sure why they repeat it- maybe because it is an international airport?, hence the pressure in hpa as well?)

 

[AKBill]

When you read a lot of them, it is a very convenient format because it is very concise

I agree you can get a lot of information at a glance.

 

[timwinters]

I agree you can get a lot of information at a glance.

Indeed, I hate decoded briefings.

 

[Half Fast]

Too bad, that’s been a classic service to aviation for a long time.

Another resource gone west...

But many new resources rising in the east.

The world keeps turning.

 

[Bill Watson]

When you read a lot of them, it is a very convenient format because it is very concise.
It doesn't matter so much for us in the small planes, but commercial pilots who go great distances, every day it really is better for them. They need to read a lot of these each flight.

NY kennedy airport, 25 May, 1251 UTC (751 local) wind from the south 8 knots,visibility 10 statute miles, few clouds @ 5000' scattered clouds @ 25,000', temperature 16 °C, dewpoint 11 °C (not much change of fog), altimeter 30.26", sea level pressure is 1024.7 hpa, temperature 15.6/dewpoint 11 °C (not sure why they repeat it- maybe because it is an international airport?, hence the pressure in hpa as well?)

I’m sure that’s true if you have to read a stack of them. They come pretty easily to me since I’ve been reading them since they were actually printed on teletype machines using the old teletype characters (think more weirdly encrypted than they are now).

But for single readings, I find it hard to beat FF’s presentation:

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Pro

 

[asicer]

But for single readings, I find it hard to beat FF’s presentation

I actually prefer aviationweather.gov :

 

[Pilawt]

I learned weather in the old sequence report format, and still use it, including the teletype cloud cover symbols, in my handwritten notes.

 

[Cap'n Jack]

I learned weather in the old sequence report format, and still use it, including the teletype cloud cover symbols, in my handwritten notes.

View attachment 74372

That too- useful shorthand.

 

[PeterNSteinmetz]

temperature 15.6/dewpoint 11 °C (not sure why they repeat it- maybe because it is an international airport?, hence the pressure in hpa as well?)

The temps in the remarks also include the temperature to tenths of a degree Celsius and are usually added when available.

I understand that is one of the reasons temps in the US are generally reported to the public in Fahrenheit - it is a bit more accurate than full degrees Celsius, though that is what people are used to as well.

 

[weilke]

Back in the day it used to be all voice recorded and not digitized. They had a recording booth for HIWAS, TWEBS and TIBS. Almost everything they do these days can be automated with little human intervention.

Got to wonder what the actual cost to provide hiwas was. There are already data lines to the VORs, it's not like some guy had to drive there to change a tape.

The automated canned nature of the service made it less useful than it could have been. Locations given relative to VORs rather than geographic landmarks etc.

 

[Cap'n Jack]

The temps in the remarks also include the temperature to tenths of a degree Celsius and are usually added when available.

I understand that is one of the reasons temps in the US are generally reported to the public in Fahrenheit - it is a bit more accurate than full degrees Celsius, though that is what people are used to as well.

Considering the variation I see in temperature driving across town, I'm not sure the accuracy in units actually matters much. The variation in temperature is greater that the precision of any of the thermometers.

 

[PeterNSteinmetz]

Considering the variation I see in temperature driving across town, I'm not sure the accuracy in units actually matters much. The variation in temperature is greater that the precision of any of the thermometers.

Haha. Depends on where you live I suspect. An interesting fact about San Diego. The average diurnal variation in temperature is greater than the variation in a year of the daily average temperature. Thus, in choosing clothing, it is more important to know what time of day it is than what season.

 

[weilke]

Haha. Depends on where you live I suspect. An interesting fact about San Diego. The average diurnal variation in temperature is greater than the variation in a year of the daily average temperature. Thus, in choosing clothing, it is more important to know what time of day it is than what season.

I was in SD a couple weeks ago. Weather guy was talking about how it is going to 'warm up' towards the end of the week. From 69 to 71 degrees. I think they were just messing with us.

 

[MooneyDriver78]

But for single readings, I find it hard to beat FF’s presentation:

GP is similar, plus it color codes the airports so you can get a quick scan of which airports are VFR, IFR...

Tom

 

[Pilawt]

An interesting fact about San Diego. The average diurnal variation in temperature is greater than the variation in a year of the daily average temperature. Thus, in choosing clothing, it is more important to know what time of day it is than what season.

When I was growing up in southeastern Los Angeles County, the weather forecast never changed: "Night and morning low clouds and fog, burning off to hazy afternoon sunshine ... "

 

[Half Fast]

HIWAS might have remained popular had the FAA put just a little effort into keeping it entertaining...

 

[Dean V]

Hazardous Inflight Weather Advisory Service Sunsets

As part of the FAA’s efforts to modernize and streamline service delivery, Flight Service will discontinue the Hazardous Inflight Weather Advisory Service (HIWAS) in the contiguous United States later this year. HIWAS is a continuous recording of inflight weather advisories broadcast over a limited network of VORs that provide pilots with meteorological information related to hazardous weather.

HIWAS is an inflight service not intended to provide a detailed weather briefing. It uses text-to-voice technology to record a broadcast tailored to fit the needs of a specific geographic location. Flight Service created HIWAS when there was a large demand for briefings to alleviate the workload of specialists and reduce wait times for pilots.

With the advent of the internet and other technology, the demand for information from Flight Service specialists has declined. From more than 3,000 specialists in more than 300 facilities during the early 1980s, staffing has decreased to fewer than 400 specialists in three facilities; radio contacts have dropped to less than 900 calls per day from an average of 10,000 per day.

Flight Service will discontinue the text-to-voice recordings of HIWAS with publication of a final policy notice in the Federal Register, which is expected by Sept. 30, 2019. If you have any questions please contact: 9-AWA-ATO-SYSOPS-FS@faa.gov.



from:
FAAST Blast — Clearance Relay Update, HIWAS Sunset, Change is Good
Notice Number: NOTC8488



FAAST Blast — Week of May 19, 2019 – May 25, 2019
Biweekly FAA Safety Briefing News Update

Nothing to see here. The FAA opened for comments their intent to shut HIWAS down in August 2018.

 

[Richman67]

I was in SD a couple weeks ago. Weather guy was talking about how it is going to 'warm up' towards the end of the week. From 69 to 71 degrees. I think they were just messing with us.

No, he wasn't. Too bad you missed the weekend...that was summer.

 

[Richman67]

What I read from this, is that we have 400 people answering 900 calls per day over the radio. They must also be answering the phone, because they always act shocked when we use the radio.

If you work it out to 3 shifts of 8 hours each, 5 days a week, plus 2 weekend shifts, plus some overage for management, supervisors, vacations and sick calls, there's probably only 50 on duty at any one time, if that.

 

[Piperonca]

So were lighted airway beacons, A-N ranges and NDBs.

And bonfires https://www.popularmechanics.com/flight/a20524415/the-history-of-airmail/

 

[overdrive148]

When you read a lot of them, it is a very convenient format because it is very concise.
It doesn't matter so much for us in the small planes, but commercial pilots who go great distances, every day it really is better for them. They need to read a lot of these each flight.

NY kennedy airport, 25 May, 1251 UTC (751 local) wind from the south 8 knots,visibility 10 statute miles, few clouds @ 5000' scattered clouds @ 25,000', temperature 16 °C, dewpoint 11 °C (not much change of fog), altimeter 30.26", sea level pressure is 1024.7 hpa, temperature 15.6/dewpoint 11 °C (not sure why they repeat it- maybe because it is an international airport?, hence the pressure in hpa as well?)

That exact temperature though T01560111, not 16/11 but 15.6 and 11.1!

Anyone else miss winds and temps aloft over 99kt with the addition magic you have to do with the wind direction?

 

[asicer]

Anyone else miss winds and temps aloft over 99kt with the addition magic you have to do with the wind direction?

I only learned it for the tests, once for PP and once for instrument. In real life, I promptly forgot it after passing and then just use GFA.

 

[overdrive148]

I only learned it for the tests, once for PP and once for instrument. In real life, I promptly forgot it after passing and then just use GFA.

I did too until last week when I showed my latest class how bad it could be (they were bemoaning METARs). Then I remembered exactly how it worked even after 9+ years since I read one.

 

[Gmonnig]

It will probably take the controllers several weeks to stop mentioning HIWAS in their canned SIGMET announcements like they did when Flight Watch went under.

I still mess this up. Old habits die hard. When you have to read these damn things every 15mins for the entire thunderstorm season, knowing that nobody is listening, you get used to the repetitive speech.

 

[Cap'n Jack]

That exact temperature though T01560111, not 16/11 but 15.6 and 11.1!

Anyone else miss winds and temps aloft over 99kt with the addition magic you have to do with the wind direction?
<SNIP>

Thanks for the correction. I guess I don't read enough of them

 

[Jmcmanna]

It’s funny, when they took out “flight watch” from “HIWAS, flight watch, and flight service frequencies”, it took everyone in my TRACON a month to get their cadence back for that spiel.

 

[texasclouds]

They better not do away with coded metars, it took me too long to learn them just to drop it now! And who is going to go and erase all the “H”s on the sectional charts???