Definition
Weather reroutes are revised routings issued by air traffic control to move aircraft around areas of hazardous or disruptive weather such as thunderstorms, turbulence, icing, or convective activity. They may be applied to a single flight, a group of flights, or the entire traffic flow through a region, and are typically published as part of traffic management initiatives during significant weather events.
Plain English
A new route given to a flight to keep it clear of bad weather along its original path.
Context Anchor
Seen in NextGen, flight planning, dispatch, and air traffic control discussions when storms, low visibility, or other weather affect normal routes.
Derivation
WX is long-used aviation and weather-service shorthand for weather. Reroute means to route again, or send something by a different path. Together, WX Reroutes means weather-caused route changes.
Why Pilots Care
They reduce exposure to turbulence, icing, thunderstorms, and other weather hazards while limiting delays and fuel burn.
Intuition Check
Do not assume a WX Reroute is just a shortcut or a minor map change. It is a route change made because weather is affecting where aircraft can safely or efficiently fly.
Example Sentence 1
Before pushback, the crew received a WX reroute taking them well south of their filed track to avoid a line of thunderstorms over the Midwest.
Example Sentence 2
The dispatcher filed WX reroutes before departure after reviewing the convective outlook.