SIGWX
Encyclopedia
SIGWX is a Significant Weather Chart defined by ICAO.
Weather charts being issued by World Area Forecast Centres (from meteorological offices in London and Washington), presenting the most important meteorological phenomena relevant especially for air traffic transport. WAFC publishes them in two formats
Charts are typically being issued every six hours (0, 6, 12, 18 UTC) and contain forecast valid for next 12 hours. Prognoses are typically prepared for two ranges of heights:
Weather phenomena:
IMPORTANT NOTE: Amendment 74 to ICAO Annex 3 (effective 7th November 2007) eliminated the requirement for depiction of surface fronts and well-defined convergence zones (e.g. ITCZ) on WAFS SIGWX forecasts (in BUFR-code and PNG chart form). WAFC still publishes frontal bulletins, but they contain no data.
Weather charts being issued by World Area Forecast Centres (from meteorological offices in London and Washington), presenting the most important meteorological phenomena relevant especially for air traffic transport. WAFC publishes them in two formats
- BUFRBUFRThe Binary Universal Form for the Representation of meteorological data is a binary data format maintained by the World Meteorological Organization . The latest version is BUFR Edition 4...
code - PNG images
Charts are typically being issued every six hours (0, 6, 12, 18 UTC) and contain forecast valid for next 12 hours. Prognoses are typically prepared for two ranges of heights:
- SWH - High Level SIGWX (Flight levelFlight levelA Flight Level is a standard nominal altitude of an aircraft, in hundreds of feet. This altitude is calculated from the International standard pressure datum of 1013.25 hPa , the average sea-level pressure, and therefore is not necessarily the same as the aircraft's true altitude either...
250-630) - SWM - Medium Level SIGWX (Flight levelFlight levelA Flight Level is a standard nominal altitude of an aircraft, in hundreds of feet. This altitude is calculated from the International standard pressure datum of 1013.25 hPa , the average sea-level pressure, and therefore is not necessarily the same as the aircraft's true altitude either...
100-450)
Weather phenomena:
- Cloud - including information about cloud type, height of base and top, turbulence and icing risk
- Clear Air Turbulence - including base and top height, strength of turbulence
- Jet Stream - including base and top height, wind speed
- Tropopause Height
- Tropical Cyclone, Sandstorm
- Volcanoes
- Frontal system
IMPORTANT NOTE: Amendment 74 to ICAO Annex 3 (effective 7th November 2007) eliminated the requirement for depiction of surface fronts and well-defined convergence zones (e.g. ITCZ) on WAFS SIGWX forecasts (in BUFR-code and PNG chart form). WAFC still publishes frontal bulletins, but they contain no data.