| In METAR reports, we can find many notations. In fact, most of them can be
guessed what they mean. This is because those are abbreviations of the terms
to describe various weather conditions.
Here are some of the common notations used in METAR.
| Notation |
Description |
| - |
light/moderate |
| + |
heavy |
| VC |
in the vicinity |
| NOSIG |
no significant weather |
| BC |
patches |
| SH |
showers |
| TS |
thunderstorms |
| DZ |
drizzle |
| RA |
rain |
| RERA |
recent rain |
| BR |
mist |
| FG |
fog |
| HZ |
haze |
| +TSRA |
thunderstorms with heavy rain |
| +SHRA |
heavy showers or rain |
For example,
METAR VHHH 261200Z 08012KT 040V100 9000 FEW009 CB012 SCT014 BKN050
22/19 Q1018 NOSIG
|
is decoded as,
| METAR |
type of report - METAR |
| VHHH |
station identity code for Hong Kong International Airport |
| 261200Z |
day 26 hour 12 (in Greenwish Mean Time, HKT=GMT + 8) minute 0 |
| 08012KT |
wind direction - 080 degrees; wind speed - 12 knots (1 knot is about 0.5 m/s or 1.8 km/h) |
| 040V100 |
wind may vary from 040 degrees to 100 degrees |
| 9000 |
visibility - 9 km (if 9999 means over 10 km) |
| FEW009 |
few cloud at 900 feet |
| CB012 |
cumulonimbus cloud at 1200 feet |
| SCT014 |
scattered cloud at 1400 feet |
| BKN050 |
broken cloud at 5000 feet |
| 22/19 |
temperature - 22 degree celsius; dew point - 19 degree celsius |
| Q1018 |
sea-level pressure - 1018 hpa |
| NOSIG |
no significant weather |
Sometimes, you can see like this,
METAR VHHH 261200Z 08012KT 040V100 9000 FEW009 CB012 SCT014 BKN050
22/19 Q1018 TEMPO 1406 7000 +TSRA
|
The last few words mean,
| temporary situation between hour 14 and hour 6 next day (in GMT):
visibility is 7 km in thunderstorms with heavy rain
|
Links
Further Reading
Extra Information
|
How to decode METAR?