Weather data for the morning brief must be obtained within 45 minutes ofwhen the brief starts. Sources are ATIS, METARs, TAFs, PIREPs, and windsaloft. Standard winds aloft reporting levels are 3,000, 6,000, 9,000, and12,000 feet MSL — cover all four.

Trend matters as much as the snapshot.

More, in some cases. A ceiling that’s marginal but improving is a differentsituation than one that’s marginal and falling. You need to know whichdirection the weather is moving, not just where it is at brief time.

How does the go/no-go decision actually work at a Basic Air Show?

Ceiling and visibility minimums for each act category are specified in theCoW. The low-show program — if one is defined in the CoW — identifieswhich act categories remain authorized when conditions degrade belowstandard minimums. The Air Boss and IIC make the go/no-go call jointly.The Air Boss’s recommendation carries weight, but the show director mayultimately decide to cancel for business or safety reasons. What the AirBoss decides is what is safe to fly — those are two distinct decisions.

And weather management doesn’t end when the show starts.

Assign a weather monitor for show day — a meteorologist, duty officer, ortrained staff member. Update weather data on a regular interval and inputchanges into the briefing tools as they come in. Know your thresholds inadvance: what triggers a delay, what triggers a low-show modification,and what triggers suspension or termination.

And the decisions get documented.

Every weather-based decision and its basis goes in the show log. If youdelayed an act because of a deteriorating TAF, document it. That recordmatters for post-show review and for any regulatory inquiry. Decision-making without documentation is not defensible.