Area Forecast Discussion

Read the Area Forecast Discussion from the Northern Indiana National Weather Service Forecast Office

Forecasters write an Area Forecast Discussion (AFD) before issuing a regularly scheduled forecast, and occasionally before issuing an updated forecast.  You can expect a new AFD to be issued, at a minimum, twice a day.  The morning discussion is usually issued between 1:00am and 3:00am, with the afternoon discussion issued between 1:00pm and 3:00pm.

The AFD serves as a vehicle through which the meteorologist can explain why he his forecasting what he is forecasting.  The forecaster will also often discuss which of the many forecast computer models he prefers, and why.

AFD abbreviations:

Historically, the AFD has been written with other NWS meteorologists as the intended audience.  However, now that the AFD is being viewed on the Web, and is actually one of our most popular products, forecasters are being encouraged to use fewer abbreviations and less NWS lingo.  Nevertheless, some unfamiliar words or contractions still appear.  If  you  have a question about a contraction used in our AFD, please feel free to e-mail us at iwx.nwr@noaa.gov.