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- Providing weather briefings
and warnings for aviation since 1980
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Mission:
The Houston (ZHU) Center Weather Service Unit (CWSU) is located at the Federal Aviation Administration
(FAA) Air en-Route Traffic Control Center (ARTCC) in Houston, Texas. Four National Weather Service
(NWS) meteorologists staff the office. Our hours of operation are from 5:00 A.M. to 9:00 P.M. daily.
The primary goal is to enhance both the safety and the efficient flow
of air traffic through the ZHU airspace. |
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- Operations:
- The ZHU ARTCC is one of 21 ARTCC's
over contiguous United States and encompasses an area approximately
276,866 square nautical miles extending from the Texas Big Bend area
eastward to the Alabama/Florida state line including a large portion
of the Gulf of Mexico north of 24 degrees North latitude. Within the
Houston Center area, there are 22 FAA control towers, 16 approach control
facilities, 87 major airports and 15 military fields. This center handles
approximately 2.5 million aircraft operations a year or over 7000 per day.
Our main responsibility is to provide up to the minute weather information
to FAA Supervisors and the ZHU Traffic Management Unit (TMU). The CWSU
meteorologists issue two products, the Center Weather Advisory (CWA), which
is an aviation weather warning for thunderstorms, severe icing or turbulence,
and low IFR ceilings and visibility. The Meteorological Impact Statement (MIS)
is a 2-12 hour forecast for weather conditions, which are expected to
impact ARTCC operations.
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