All eyes are on Ian, which became a hurricane early this morning in the western Caribbean Sea and may become a major hurricane tonight near western Cuba. Regardless in Ian's track and intensity over the next several days, life-threatening storm surge, hurricane-force winds, heavy rain, flooding and tornadoes are just some of the impacts the Sunshine state will see this week. Read More >
The Houston (ZHU) Center Weather Service Unit (CWSU) is located at the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Air en-Route Traffic Control Center (ARTCC) in Houston, Texas. Four National Weather Service (NWS) meteorologists staff the office. Our hours of operation are from 5:00 A.M. to 9:00 P.M. daily.
The ZHU ARTCC is one of 21 ARTCC's over contiguous United States and encompasses an area approximately 276,866 square nautical miles extending from the Texas Big Bend area eastward to the Alabama/Florida state line including a large portion of the Gulf of Mexico north of 24 degrees North latitude. Within the Houston Center area, there are 22 FAA control towers, 16 approach control facilities, 3 flight service stations, 87 major airports and 15 military fields. This center handles approximately 2 million aircraft operations a year or about 6000 per day.
Our main responsibility is to provide up to the minute weather information to FAA Supervisors and the ZHU Traffic Management Unit (TMU). The CWSU meteorologists issue two products, the Center Weather Advisory (CWA), which is an aviation weather warning for thunderstorms, severe icing or turbulence, and low IFR ceilings and visibility. The Meteorological Impact Statement (MIS) is a 2-12 hour forecast for weather conditions, which are expected to impact ARTCC operations.
