What are AIRMETs?

• A. Advisories of significant weather phenomena but of lower intensities than SIGMETs and intended for dissemination to all pilots
• B. Forecasts of weather conditions limited to a single airspace
• C. Real-time warnings of tornadoes only
• D. Notices of airport closures

Answer: (A)

AIRMETs are advisories about significant weather that could affect flight safety but are not as severe as SIGMETs. They’re meant for widespread dissemination to all pilots so you can plan for conditions that are noteworthy and potentially impactful, even if they aren’t life-threatening hazards. The weather phenomena covered by AIRMETs are typically moderate in intensity, such as moderate turbulence, moderate icing, or IFR/mountain-obscuration conditions. They help pilots anticipate less extreme but still noteworthy weather over a broad area and for several hours.

This differs from other notices in a few ways. Real-time tornado warnings are not AIRMETs—they’re more severe, and would be addressed by other products like convective SIGMETs or tornado warnings. Notices of airport closures aren’t AIRMETs either; those are NOTAMs. And AIRMETs aren’t forecasts limited to a single airspace; they cover larger areas to inform pilots across regions about developing weather hazards that could affect flight planning.