Impact-Based Decision Support Services for the National Airspace System: A Case Study of Two High-Impact Thunderstorm Events on Traffic Flow Management

The Aviation Weather Center's (AWC) National Aviation Meteorologists (NAM) provide Impact-Based Decision Support Services (IDSS) at the Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) Air Traffic Control System Command Center (ATCSCC) in Warrenton, VA. The NAMs ensure the safe and efficient movement of aircraft through the National Airspace System (NAS) by supporting FAA planners and decision makers through all phases of flight and all hazardous aviation weather, including thunderstorms, major winter storms, and tropical storms, to name a few. In addition, the NAMs engage in collaborative decision making with government, industry, and general aviation stakeholders to deliver timely, relevant, accurate, and consistent environmental information. This presentation will describe the IDSS provided by the NAMs during two high-impact thunderstorm events that took place in July 2018. The first event saw extreme impacts to operations at Newark International Airport (KEWR) on July 3 when a severe thunderstorm quickly developed near the terminal and remained quasi-stationary over a protracted period of time. The second event highlights significant enroute impacts from several areas of scattered thunderstorms that developed along a frontal boundary over the eastern and southern United States on July 6, impacting high-altitude routing of aircraft. This presentation will demonstrate the types of decision support briefings that occur at the ATCSCC during high-impact thunderstorms and the air traffic management response.