Includes north american and international abbreviations, some of which may not be used in uk or european sourced metartaf. For abbreviations, please refer to the list of airports around the world that report metars. Find out what these mean to get familiar with the different abbreviated names for various operations, lines of business, and programs. Abbreviations used in airway manual definitions aa air to air aaf army air field aaim aircraft autonomous integrity monitoring aais automated aerodrome information service aal above aerodrome level aas airport advisory service aau authorized approach unicom ab air base abm abeam abn aerodrome beacon ac air carrier aca arctic control area aca. Us military forecaster or majcomapproved weather source for. Metar and taf codes and abbreviations pprune forums. Aviation routine weather reports metar weather observations made hourly at selected airports are coded to international standards. Kjax 020256z 02003kt 10sm tsra ovc01ocb sct100 bkn 1817 a2996 metars will always be published in the same order. Professional pilot training includes ground studies metar and taf codes and abbreviations hi, where can i find a good organized list of the. Aircrew quick reference to the metar and taf codes skybrary. Will metar, or any wx code and abbreviations come back to me without a cheat sheet.
The aircrew quick reference guide to the metar and taf codes is designed to help aircrews quickly and clearly translate metar and taf codes into plain language. Only used in metar auto and means no cloud detected ndv below 10,000 ft at nzaa, nzwn and nzch, or no cloud detected at any level for all other domestic aerodromes. The acronym roughly translates from french as aviation routine weather report. Below are some useful aviation acronyms for general guidance and use in the aviation industry. Speci is merely the code name given to metar formatted products which are issued on a special nonroutine basis as dictated by changing meteorological conditions. Abbreviations ao1 automated observation without precipitation discriminator r ainsnow ao2 automated observation with precipitation discriminator r ainsnow amd amended forecast ta f. Click on any letter to find the abbreviation you need. Notices to airmen notams federal aviation administration.
The proposed effective date is mid 1996, however the date may change. For example, the latest denver metar would be shown as. Information contained in a metar the airline pilots. I test myself on a regular basis, god knows i cant fly lately and i. North american metars deviate from the wmo who write the code on. Key to aerodrome forecast taf and aviation routine weather.
When radiotelephony is used, the abbreviations and terms are transmitted using the individual letters in. Details are listed in the faas aeronautical information manual aim, but the noncompliant elements are mostly based on the use of nonstandard units of measurement. To the nonaviator this is just a jumble of letters and numbers, but to us, it is an invaluable tool. Many of these terms and abbreviations are used by nws forecasters to communicate between each other and have been in use for many years and before many nws products were directly available to the public. List of acronyms and abbreviations american meteorological. Within these observations, you will find a number of abbreviations that have very specific meanings. Acronyms and abbreviations federal aviation administration.
To assist a pilot in performing a correct weather risk assessment prior to hisher flight, meteorological offices around the world will produce a wide range of meteorological products. B began bc patches bl blowing br mist 58 dr low drifting ds dust storm du dust dz drizzle e ended. A speci is a special report of meteorological conditions, issued when one or more elements meet specified criteria significant to aviation. Metar is the international standard code format for hourly surface weather observations which is analogous to the sa coding currently used in the us. The aviation weather services guide is designed to assist aviation users about the availability and use of aviation weather products and services. Metar codes report observed weather conditions by airfield. A metar weather report is predominantly used by aircraft pilots, and by meteorologists, who use aggregated metar information to assist in weather forecasting.
Us dept of commerce national oceanic and atmospheric administration national weather service national centers for environmental prediction. North american metar codes north american metars deviate from the wmo who write the code on behalf of icao fm 15xii code. Reports may be prepared manually or by automated equipment. Aim aeronautical information manual airmet airmens. Aviation weather center homepage provides comprehensive userfriendly aviation weather text products and graphics. Explanatory note of the list of metar abbreviations on the following pages. Metar kjfk 242235z 28024g36kt 7sm ra br bkn009 ovc020cb 2624 a2998 rmk ao2 slp993 t02640238 56012 kjfk station id 242235z prepared on the 24th at 2235 zulu utc 28024g36kt winds are from 280 at 24 knots gusting to 36 knots 7sm visibility 7. As of november, 2008, 32 of the largest air carrier highimpact u. Welcome to fltplan, a free flight planning service for creating and filing ifr and vfr flight plans, obtaining weather briefings and navigation logs for flights in the u. See references in attachment 1 for a listing of source documents. Aviation weather products metarspeci bureau of meteorology. Abbreviations used in aviation forecasts and warnings met. Nav canada is the private nonshare capital corporation responsible for providing civil air navigation services, including the aviation weather program.
What is metarspeci and what do the acronyms stand for. Feb 02, 2011 will metar, or any wx code and abbreviations come back to me without a cheat sheet. A list of more than 7000 aviation abbreviations and acronyms are commonly used in aviation and may be found throughout aviation legislation, operational manuals, in the aip, on associated aeronautical charts and maps, in notams, in aip supplements in meteorological messages etc. Metar is the scheduled observation taken at the end of each hour. Aviation abbreviations and acronyms civil aviation safety. Im getting frustrated with my inability to remember the codes with my reintroduction to the cockpit. A speci message is identical to a metar but is established punctually instead of regularly. North american metar codes north american metars deviate from the wmo who write the code on behalf of icao fm. National weather service glossary this glossary contains information on more than 2000 terms, phrases and abbreviations used by the nws. The following metar abbreviations are used in the united states. Metar taf abbreviations cloud types a hail amos automatic meteorological observing abm abeam system abv above ams air mass ac altocumulus anlys analysis accas altocumulus castellanus ao1 automated observation with no accum altocumulate precip discriminator rainsnow acld above clouds ao2 automated observation with precip. Details are listed in the faas aeronautical information manual aim. Key to aerodrome forecast taf and aviation routine.
When the sky is obscured, or forecast to be obscured eg, because of fog, the cloud group. Taf codes report forecasted weather conditions by airfield. To help us understand a bit more about the way metars work, lets take a look at the example below. When taking the faa part 107 exam for commercial operation of a suas, weather and reading metar taf reports make up a large percentage of the test questions, so mastering weather is a must. The usual 3 letter identifiers we are all familiar with are now receded by a k for the contiguous united states. Reading a metar report and understanding weather is an important part of flying. It is issued every few hours, and is updated if necessary sooner. Details are listed in the faas aeronautical information manual. Information contained in a metar example metar codes. Each metar report contains the following sequence of elements which are explained below. Each piece of data is shown in a human readable format.
Faa home jobs acronyms and abbreviations acronyms and abbreviations. I test myself on a regular basis, god knows i cant fly lately and i regularly cant remember pieces of the metar. Abbreviations used in aviation forecasts and warnings check the meaning of the abbreviations used in our aviation forecasts and warnings. Speci is an observation taken at an unscheduled time due to certain criteria that is met such as low visibility, low clouds, frozen precipitation, or thunderstorms. Metar speci a metar is a routine report of meteorological conditions at an aerodrome. Raw metar is the most common format in the world for the transmission of observational weather data. Metarspeci a metar is a routine report of meteorological conditions at an aerodrome. May 24, 2019 ams maintains this acronym reference list and no longer requires that authors submitting to our periodicals expand the scientific, model, institutional, and experimentprogram acronyms appearing on the list. If desired, a decoded view of the data can be selected. Learn vocabulary, terms, and more with flashcards, games, and other study tools. Metar terminal aerodrome forecast taf faq national. Department of transportation federal aviation administration notice.
Metar kpit 201955z 22015g25kt where kpit is the icao station identifier. Manual or augmented comments in metar weather observations are found toward the end of the observation in the rmk section. The following metartaf code formats are undergoing final changes. Alaska and hawaii will use 4 letter identifiers beginning with pa and ph respectively. Metar is a format for reporting weather information. Metar and taf weather report abbreviations quizlet. Aviation routine weather reports metar weather observations. Start studying metar and taf weather report abbreviations. Aug 29, 2018 reading a metar report and understanding weather is an important part of flying. How to interpret aviation weather information aviation. It is a special observation message highlighting any significant change since the last metar or speci was issued. In the united states, the wind direction must have a 60 or greater variance for.