As part of the Collaborative Convective Forecast Project (CCFP), Aviation Weather Center (AWC) forecasters prepare preliminary forecasts of thunderstorm areas expected to impact flight operations during the next six hours. These forecasts are discussed in Internet chat sessions with meteorologists at major airlines and at the 20 Air Route Traffic Control Centers in the conterminous United States.

The collaboration produces a final forecast and a self documenting record of the input which can be used in the Air Route Traffic Collaborative Routing decision process in strategic flight plaining to help reduce weather related delays as well as smooth the flow of air traffic.

This paper will examine the operational concepts of the CCFP which has been in existence for three years and focus attention on the process from the perspective of the AWC forecasters who are responsible for the facilitaton of the process and generation of the final products.