NOAA

National Weather Service

Houston

Center Weather Service Unit

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Center Weather Service Unit (CWSU) Houston

Mission: 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.

Operations:The Houston Center Weather Service Unit (ZHU 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 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.