Definition
A Terminal Aerodrome Forecast (TAF) is a concise, coded weather forecast issued for the area within a 5 statute mile radius of an airport. It describes expected surface wind, visibility, weather phenomena, and cloud conditions for a specific period — typically 24 or 30 hours — and is updated four times daily. TAFs are issued for selected airports with sufficient observational coverage, and they use the same coded format as METAR observations.
Plain English
A short weather forecast for a specific airport, covering the next day or so, that tells pilots what wind, visibility, weather, and cloud conditions to expect there.
Context Anchor
You see TAFs during preflight weather planning, especially when checking departure, destination, and alternate airports for an instrument flight.
Derivation
‘Terminal’ comes from the Latin terminus, meaning ‘end’ or ‘boundary’ — in aviation it refers to the airport area where flights begin or end. ‘Aerodrome’ is an older term for airport, from the Greek aero (air) and dromos (running track or course), literally an ‘air course.’ Together the phrase points to a forecast made specifically for the airport environment.
Why Pilots Care
TAFs help pilots choose suitable alternates, calculate fuel reserves, and decide whether current or forecast conditions will support a safe arrival.
Grounding Statement
A TAF is the official expected-weather picture for one airport area during a set time window.
Intuition Check
“Terminal” does not mean the passenger building here. It means the forecast applies to the area near a specific airport.
Example Sentence 1
The TAF for the destination showed visibility dropping to 2 miles after 0300Z, so the pilot filed an alternate.
Example Sentence 2
An amended TAF issued after takeoff showed unexpected fog, prompting the crew to divert to the filed alternate.