Convective storms pose a significant threat to aviation safety and often result in substantial flight delays for the commercial aviation industry. The overall impact of these storms is typically based on thunderstorm climatologies published in the Airport Climatological Summary by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. These thunderstorm climatologies, however, are based only on the average number of storms observed at an airport and do not represent all of the days in which thunderstorms may have impacted operational decisions made by air traffic controllers. A refined climatological assessment of the impact of convective storms has been evaluated for Orlando, FL (MCO) and Dallas/Fort Worth, TX (DFW). This assessment utilizes Integrated Terminal Weather System (ITWS) data to identify operationally significant weather inside the MCO and DFW Terminal Radar Control areas. The results indicate that nearly 1.5 times as many thunderstorms impact the terminal airspace than are being reported in the "Official" thunderstorm record. These findings imply that the frequency of convective storms impacting terminal operations is underestimated, and the potential benefits of convective weather information for air traffic controllers may need to be reevaluated.
* This work was sponsored by the Federal Aviation Administration. The views expressed are those of the authors and do not reflect the official policy or position of the U.S. Government.
+ Opinions, interpretations, conclusions and recommendations
are those of the authors and are not necessarily endorsed by the United
States Air Force
The 8th Conference on Aviation, Range, and Aerospace Meteorology