FAA EXPANDS WEATHER CAMERAS IN MONTANA AND COLORADO

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) activated ten new weather cameras in Colorado and two in Montana. The ten cameras in Colorado were installed at mountainous airports in Aspen (ASE), Durango (DRO), Eagle (EGE), Gunnison (GUC), Hayden (HDN), Leadville (LXV), Rifle (RIL), Telluride (TEX), and Walden (33V). They bring the total number of mountain weather cameras to 23. A camera at Limon (LIC) is the only one sited in non-mountainous terrain. Montana’s sites are part of a pilot program to test the cameras and are located at Lincoln (S69), and Seeley Lake (23S).

Along with the live images, the camera equipment sends weather in the form of METARs and other data to the site. These provide incredibly valuable assistance to pilots in their pre-flight planning through mountainous terrain. David Ulane, director of the Aeronautics Division in the Colorado Department of Transportation, said he would like to see up to 40 more cameras installed at every public-use airport in Colorado. Together with the 13 mountain pass Automated Weather Observation Systems (AWOS), pilots flying through the Colorado Rocky Mountains have a wealth of valuable and potentially life-saving information at their fingertips to make their flights safely through rough terrain with highly variable wind conditions.

Live images and weather data from the cameras are available on the FAA weather camera site: weathercams.faa.gov/