It has been nearly two decades ago since the FAA/NWS began a formal effort to move away from what was officially called the Traditional Alphanumeric Code (TAC) AIRMET. In fact, this article I wrote about this subject was published in the January 2006 issue of IFR magazine. Graphical AIRMETs (G-AIRMETs) were introduced in 2008 as the replacement for the legacy AIRMET as discussed in this November 2008 article I also published in IFR magazine. It wasn't until March 16, 2010, the G-AIRMET became the operational product for pilots and essentially replaced the existing legacy AIRMET as I wrote in this article for FLYING magazine. Even so, the TAC AIRMET overstayed its welcome for the next 14 years.
Based on the working group recommendation and the Safety Risk Management Panel (SRMP) results, the FAA has formally requested the NWS retire the TAC AIRMET and produce only the G-AIRMET for the CONUS. TAC AIRMETs for Alaska and Hawaii will not be affected at this time. Therefore, effective on or about January 27, 2025 at 1900Z, the TAC AIRMET over the six regions of the conterminous U.S. will finally be retired. This means that the G-AIRMET will remain as the official advisory and will eliminate the outdated textual product for good.
If you are still confused about the difference between the legacy AIRMET and a G-AIRMET, you should read this article in FLYING magazine and this post in the EZ Blog.
Most pilots are weatherwise, but some are otherwise™
Dr. Scott Dennstaedt
Weather Systems Engineer
Founder, EZWxBrief™
CFI & former NWS meteorologist
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