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Seattle, Washington
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NWS CWSU Seattle
Overnight Outlook
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CURRENT RADAR/SATELLITE IMAGES
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CURRENT SEATTLE ARTCC FLIGHT CATEGORIES
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FLIGHT CATEGORY RULES
SYMBOL CAT CIG (ft agl) Boolean VIS (miles)
Low IFR symbol LIFR <500 and/or <1
IFR symbol IFR 500 to <1000 and/or 1 to <3
Marginal VFR symbol MVFR 1000 to 3000 and/or 3 to 5
VFR symbol VFR >3000 and >5
Missing symbol    MISSING OR INCOMPLETE OBSERVATION


Center Weather Service Unit (CWSU) Seattle
Mission:
Seattle 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. National products issued by the CWSU meteorologist include Center Weather Advisories (CWA) and Meteorological Impact Statements (MIS). The CWA is a short term advisory valid for two hours or less describing areas of hazardous weather in progress or forecast to develop. The MIS is a forecast product valid up to 12 hours describing areas of weather that may impact air traffic operations.
 
Operations:
ZSE CWSU meteorologists provide formal weather briefings to FAA supervisors within the Seattle Air Route Traffic Control Center (ARTCC) for the day and evening shifts. Verbal briefings are given to individual controllers at the ARTCC and tower control facilities around the ZSE airspace, as well as to equipment technicians when weather conditions dictate. Two types of written products are also provided by the CWSU meteorologists. The Meteorological Impact Statement (MIS) is a 4 to 12 hour planning forecast of weather conditions expected to impact the ZSE air traffic. 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. Thus, a CWA is similar to but more localized than Airmets and Sigmets issued by the Aviation Weather Center (AWC) in Kansas City, Missouri.

Additional Links:
Upper Air Pattern | Jetstream | Seattle TRACON (S46) | Portland TRACON (P80)