8. Meteorological Information

1. 8. Meteorological Information • The Meteorological Office at Shannon Airport is the centre for all the weather information concerning the Irish Republic (i.e. Shannon FIR), and provides most of the weather information for all Airports (some information is generated locally (e.g. ATIS) • For GA pilots the important information is obtained from ATIS, METAR and TAF reports ATIS (Automatic Terminal Information System) is a recording available by R/T of current weather information at an airport. It is updated every 30 mins and each update is identified by the next letter of the alphabet. Information includes time, runway in use, wind direction and speed, temperature, visibility, cloud height(s) and coverage, phonetic i/d. METARS (Meteorological Actual Report(s)) are issued every 30 mins. The include minimum visibility, Runway Visual Range or RVR (runway visibility measured automatically when it is less than 1500m), cloud height and coverage , surface wind direction (magnetic) and speed (knots), and temperature . Wind Shear is only reported if likely to occur. TAFS Terminal Area Forecasts are issued every 6 hours and cover a 24h period. The information is coded for brevity, refer to your Met notes or the MET section of the AIP for explanation of the codes • VOLMETS are transmissions of actual weather information at selected international airports, and is available to aircraft in flight. Dublin VOLMET on 127.0 MHz includes Shannon, Manchester, Heathrow • The Met Office in Shannon is available 24/7 for pilot briefings - phone 1570 234234 for a briefing from a forecaster. 1570 202122 is the phone no. for OPMET information – TAFS, METARS, SIGMETS and LAFS • Met Eireann provides weather information by fax – 1570 131838 – using a list of codes for different types of information. Code 0400 gives the full listing..