Definition
A continuous, recorded telephone service that provides pilots with a current weather briefing for a specific area, typically covering conditions within about 50 nautical miles of the broadcasting station. The recording includes current weather, forecasts, and other information relevant to flight planning in that local area.
Plain English
A phone number a pilot can call to hear a recorded weather report for a local area before flying.
Context Anchor
Seen mainly in older aviation weather references and preflight planning discussions.
Derivation
The name describes the service literally: an automatic (recorded, no human required) telephone service that answers pilots with weather. The word 'automatic' here means the recording plays without an operator -- not that the weather data updates itself instantly.
Why Pilots Care
Knowing what PATWAS is matters when reading older training material or regulations. A pilot studying for written exams or reading historical accident reports may see the term and need to recognize it as a recorded telephone weather briefing, not a live service.
Intuition Check
Do not assume “automatic” means the service made weather decisions for the pilot. It only means the information was played back automatically by telephone.
Example Sentence 1
Before the days of online weather, a pilot would dial PATWAS to get a quick recorded briefing for the local area.
Example Sentence 2
The service provided a quick recorded briefing when a live weather specialist was not immediately available.