What is PIREPs aviation?

A Pilot Report or PIREP is a report of the actual weather conditions as encountered by an aircraft in flight. Traditionally, these reports are transmitted by radio to an appropriate ground station for dissemination but, when necessary, they can be made by telephone after landing.

What are PIREPs and what are the types?

There are two types of PIREPs: UA and UUA.

How do you get PIREPs?

FAA air traffic facilities are required to solicit PIREPs when the following conditions are reported or forecast:

1. Ceilings at or below 5,000′
2. Visibility at or below 5 miles (surface or aloft)
3. Thunderstorms and related phenomena.
4. Icing of light degree or greater.
5. Turbulence of moderate degree or greater.

How often are PIREPs valid?

every 6 hours
According to the Aviation Weather Center, AIRMETs, (AIRman’s METeorological Information), “advises of weather that may be hazardous, other than convective activity, to single engine, other light aircraft, and Visual Flight Rule (VFR) pilots.” These are often considered widespread, affecting an area of at least 3000 …

What is a Hiwas in aviation?

Hazardous Inflight Weather Advisory Service (HIWAS) is a continuous broadcast of weather advisories over a limited nationwide network of VORs that provide pilots with meteorological information relating to hazardous weather.

What does UUA mean in aviation?

General Pilot Weather Report
FAA Weather Services. General. Pilot Weather Report (UA/UUA)

Who do you report Pireps to?

A pilot report or PIREP is a pilot’s report of actual weather conditions encountered while airborne. Typically, pilots file a report to ATC or Flight Service when the weather conditions are not the same as the forecast, or when the conditions are actually worse than the forecast.

What are the different types of SIGMETs?

There are two types of SIGMETs: convective and non-convective.

What makes a PIREP urgent?

URGENT. The following weather phenomena shall be classified as an URGENT (UUA) PIREP: 1. Tornadoes, funnel clouds, or waterspouts.

What is a HIWAS frequency?

HIWAS is a continuous broadcast of inflight weather advisories, carried over selected VOR frequencies. You simply tune in a VOR with HIWAS (identified by a small, solid square within the VOR’s frequency identification box), select your VOR’s identification mode, turn up the receiver volume, and listen in.

What is a Sigmet in aviation?

A U.S. SIGMET advises of weather, other than convective activity, that is potentially hazardous to all aircraft. SIGMETs are issued (for the lower 48 states and adjacent coastal waters) for the following weather-impacted reasons: Severe Icing. Severe or Extreme Turbulence.

When should you give a Pirep?

Do You Know How To Give PIREPs?

1. When requested by another pilot.
2. When the ceiling is at or less than 5,000′
3. When visibility is at or less than 5 miles.
4. Thunderstorms are present.
5. Moderate or greater turbulence is present.
6. Light or greater icing present.
7. Wind shear present.
8. Volcanic ash present.

What are PIREPs and when do you use them?

The main purpose of a PIREP is Safety! PIREPs help weather forecasters update their data, and improve the quality and accuracy of a weather forecast. These reports also assist pilots, dispatchers, and flight planners to develop a mitigation strategy for possible weather hazards encountered during a flight.

Why do you need a PIREP for a weather report?

Use PIREPs to confirm or modify your model of when and where you may encounter icing during your flight. PIREPs are the only weather reports that contain actual observations of in-flight icing. The CIP and FIP only display icing potential. It is possible for icing to occur where it is not forecast.

When do you need to file a PIREP?

Low visibility, turbulence, icing, and thunderstorms are good examples of actual weather conditions that may not be in the forecast but may be conditions a pilot experiences during flight. What pilots don’t often realize is that a PIREP should also be filed when the weather is better-than-forecast.

Why are PIREPs so important to the pilot?

A PIREP is a pilot report about conditions encountered in flight. Used as a supplement to general forecasts for an area, PIREPs contain important, detailed information gathered from people actually in the air. As a result, they’re often more accurate and precise.

The main purpose of a PIREP is Safety! PIREPs help weather forecasters update their data, and improve the quality and accuracy of a weather forecast. These reports also assist pilots, dispatchers, and flight planners to develop a mitigation strategy for possible weather hazards encountered during a flight.

What does PIREP stand for in weather category?

Routine PIREPs indicating a lack of forecasted weather conditions, for example, a lack of icing or turbulence, are also valuable to aviation weather forecasters and pilots. This is especially true when adverse conditions are expected or forecasted but do not develop or no longer exist.

Low visibility, turbulence, icing, and thunderstorms are good examples of actual weather conditions that may not be in the forecast but may be conditions a pilot experiences during flight. What pilots don’t often realize is that a PIREP should also be filed when the weather is better-than-forecast.

What’s the difference between a PIREP and an airep?

A PIREP is reported by a pilot to indicate encounters of hazardous weather such as icing or turbulence. Both are transmitted in real-time via radio to a ground station. PIREPs and AIREPs are encoded differently. AIREP format is more common outside the contiguous U.S. even though there are some AIREPs over the CONUS.