Definition
A staffed weather observation and reporting facility, typically operated by a military service, that gathers surface and upper-air weather data and issues observations and forecasts to support flight operations.
Plain English
A weather station, usually run by the military, where people collect weather information and pass it on to pilots and planners.
Context Anchor
Seen in aviation abbreviations, airport information, and weather-related notices where a short label is needed for a weather reporting station.
Why Pilots Care
Pilots use AWS data for weather briefings that directly affect go/no-go decisions and route planning.
Intuition Check
Do not read AWS as just any weather source. In this context, it means a station that reports local weather for aviation use.
Example Sentence 1
The squadron's flight planners pulled the latest observations from the base AWS before signing off on the mission.
Example Sentence 2
NOTAMs listed the AWS as temporarily out of service for maintenance.