Definition
A continuous, recorded weather and aeronautical information broadcast transmitted over selected low-frequency (L/MF) navigation aids and some VORs, providing pilots with a route-oriented summary of current weather, forecasts, winds aloft, and pertinent NOTAMs. Note: the FAA discontinued TWEB service in the contiguous United States in 2010, though it appears in legacy handbooks and may still be referenced in training materials.
Plain English
A recorded weather report that pilots could listen to by tuning a navigation radio to a specific station. The recording covered weather along common flight routes and updated regularly throughout the day.
Context Anchor
You may see TWEB in older FAA weather-source discussions, preflight planning material, or descriptions of in-flight weather information by radio.
Derivation
Transcribed means written down or recorded from speech. The name reflects how the broadcast was made: a specialist prepared a weather summary, recorded it, and the recording played continuously on the chosen frequency until the next update replaced it.
Why Pilots Care
Gives pilots access to weather information without using voice radio communications or calling flight service.
Analogy
A TWEB is like a recorded weather phone message, except it is made for aviation and sent over the radio for pilots to hear.
Intuition Check
Do not read “transcribed” as meaning the pilot receives a written page in the cockpit. In TWEB, the weather information is prepared ahead of time and then broadcast by voice over the radio.
Example Sentence 1
Before departure, the student read about TWEB in the handbook and learned that pilots once tuned certain VORs to hear a recorded route weather summary.
Example Sentence 2
Before takeoff the instructor checked the TWEB broadcast to confirm the forecast had not changed.