Definition
An Area Forecast (FA) is an aviation weather product that describes general weather conditions — including cloud cover, cloud heights, visibility, weather, and obstructions to vision — over an area covering several states. It is used to determine forecast en route weather and to interpret reported conditions at airports that do not have terminal forecasts. In current U.S. practice, the FA covers regions outside the contiguous 48 states (such as Alaska, Hawaii, the Caribbean, and the Gulf of Mexico), with Graphical Forecasts for Aviation (GFA) replacing the FA for the contiguous U.S.
Plain English
A weather summary that tells a pilot what conditions to expect across a wide region — clouds, visibility, and weather — rather than at one specific airport.
Context Anchor
Seen in weather planning and instrument weather discussions, especially when looking for en route conditions such as turbulence.
Derivation
‘Area’ comes from the Latin area, meaning an open space or region. ‘Forecast’ comes from the Old English fore- (before) and casten (to throw or plan), literally ‘to plan beforehand.’ Together it describes a weather plan thrown forward over a wide region — exactly what the product does.
Why Pilots Care
Allows pilots to anticipate widespread weather that could affect turbulence, icing, or visibility before departure.
Intuition Check
Do not read “area forecast” as just any casual forecast for a place. In this FAA context, it means a broad aviation weather forecast for a region, not a forecast for one airport only.
Example Sentence 1
Before the cross-country flight, she reviewed the Area Forecast to see what cloud layers and weather were expected along the route.
Example Sentence 2
An updated FA showed improving visibility, so the crew decided the destination would stay above minimums.