Weather; forecasting the mission

Published June 27, 2014
By Senior Airman Colin Cates
379th Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs

AL UDEID AIR BASE, Qatar -- Nothing but clear, blue skies filled the air at Al Udeid Air Base, today's forecast is going to be to be in the 100's as usual, with possible high winds.

Daily operations are affected very directly by weather, from the forecasts they provide to the pilots to the weather advisories that are sent out to the base, all of this is an important part to help accomplishing the mission.

"Forecasting here is more than saying how hot it is going to be, weather is integrated into almost every squadron on base by the information we provide toward helping the mission get accomplished," said U.S. Air Force Capt. Joseph Nash, 379th Expeditionary Operations Support Squadron weather flight commander.

The weather flight's mission is to provide current weather data for the base's decision makers. They do this by making a general three-day forecast for the base and a very specific forecast for the pilots and ground-crew. Hourly observations are done to understand what's currently happening in the atmosphere. Forecasts start on a hemispheric scale and all the information is funneled down locally.

"That weather information then goes to the command post, the superintendent of flying, who's in the [air traffic control] tower, and airfield management... We observe the cloud types and height, wind direction and speed, dust, haze or anything else that can restrict visibility," said Nash.

Perhaps the biggest benefit of accurately forecasting weather systems is keeping our Airmen and nation's multi-million dollar weapon systems out of the unforgiving elements if possible.

"We are responsible for forecasting for a huge part of the U.S. Air Forces Central Command's area of responbilty, and a big part of our job is to find and forecast anything that could negatively affect the mission, so aircraft that are not supposed to fly through it won't," said Nash. "If the command deems it necessary, flying operations will get shut down, and it is our job to give them the information they need to make those decisions"

While supporting pre-flight operations is an essential part of the weather flight's mission, they also keep pilots informed overhead.

"Besides issuing warnings, watches and advisories to crews both pre-flight and in-flight, we're also available to any of the pilots that need in-flight weather information, be that transient aircraft, U.S. Army aircraft or our own," said Nash.

Our weather operations personnel know the importance of what they do, and have to be ready for any situation the weather may bring, said Nash.

"Weather forecasting is not an exact science," he said. "You can only forecast so much, get everything right, and still have it go wrong because one small aspect changed; we really rely on our experience and the support of local and stateside resources to provide the best possible service to the commanders. We know our forecast can be the deciding factor of how the mission will be executed."

The day-to-day challenges and ever-changing weather keep the forecasters sharp.

"Weather guys take a lot of kidding but it's very rewarding. When you do it right, you can see the impact. Weather has its place of importance, and it's something we all take a lot of pride in," said Nash.