The syllabus for Weather Essentials for Pilots isn't designed to overwhelm you with a ton of advanced meteorology concepts. At the other extreme, don't expect the class to be a bunch of lessons on how to decode a raw METAR, TAF or PIREP. Moreover, it is not meant to teach you how to use the EZWxBrief progressive web app, nor will you learn how to read a Skew-T log (p) diagram. Instead, the bulk of the lessons are product-centric and will focus on building the necessary foundation to get the most from the weather guidance that all pilots should be using to make more confident decisions prior to closing the door on the cockpit to depart.
In a nutshell, this 12-week course is specifically directed at certificated private/commercial pilots, flight instructors and designated pilot examiners who feel their aviation weather knowledge is significantly lacking. Putting it succinctly, this is meant to be a slight notch above a beginner level. For most students attending this twelve week course, 20% of the material will be a review of basic aviation weather topics and the other 80% will be new or untaught material to focus on those gaps in knowledge that most certificated pilots possess.
Syllabus topics include -
- Observational guidance
- Surface observations
- Pilot weather reports
- Ground-based radar
- Advisories
- Graphical AIRMETs (G-AIRMETs)
- SIGMETs
- Center Weather Advisories (CWAs)
- Forecast guidance
- Terminal Aerodrome Forecasts (TAFs)
- Area Forecast Discussions (AFDs)
- Surface analyses and prog charts
- Quantitative Precipitation Forecasts (QPF)
- Probability of precipitation (PoP)
- Convective outlooks from the Storm Prediction Center (SPC)
- Model-based guidance
- Forecast radar
- Forecast echo top heights
- Probabilistic thunderstorm forecasts
- Model Output Statistics (MOS)
- Current and Forecast Icing Products (CIP/FIP)
- Graphical Turbulence Guidance (GTG) Product
...and more.
