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CODE
ELEMENT |
EXAMPLE |
DECODE |
NOTES |
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1
Report type |
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TAF |
'TAF' |
Name for an
aerodrome forecast |
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2
Location |
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EGSS |
'London
Stansted' |
Station
four-letter ICAO indicator |
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3
Date/Time of origin |
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130500Z |
'For
the 13th at oh, five, hundred, Zulu' |
Usually
omitted |
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4
Validity time |
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130716 |
'Valid
from oh, seven, hundred, to, sixteen, hundred, on the
13th' |
UTC
(Greenwich Mean Time) |
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5
Wind |
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31015G25KT |
'Three
one zero degrees fifteen, max twenty five knots' |
VRB =
Variable; 00000KT = calm |
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6
Min visibility or CAVOK* |
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8000 |
'Eight
kilometres' |
9999
= 10 km or more; 0000 = less than 50 metres |
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7
Significant weather |
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-SHRA |
'Light
rain showers' |
See
present weather table on METAR page for details; NSW =
No significant weather |
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8
Cloud |
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FEW005
SCT010 SCTO18CB BKN025 |
'Few
at 500 feet, scattered at one thousand feet, scattered
cumulonimbus at one thousand eight hundred feet. Broken
at two thousand five hundred feet' |
SKC =
sky clear; FEW = 1-2 oktas; SCT = 3-4 oktas; BKN = 5-7
oktas; OVC = 8 oktas; '///' = state of sky obscured
(figures after '///' will give forecast vertical
visibility in hundred of feet) NSC = no significant
cloud (none below 5,000 feet and no CB) CB will be the
only cloud type specified |
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9
Significant changes |
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Probability |
PROB30 |
'30%
probability' |
Normally only 30%
or 40% probability will be used. |
|
Time |
1416 |
'from
fourteen hundred to sixteen hundred,'
or |
Indicates
beginning and end time of forecast period in Universal
Time Co-ordinated (UTC) or Zulu time (Z) |
| Change indicator |
BECMG 1416
FM 1400 |
'becoming
from fourteen hundred to sixteen hundred'
or
'from fourteen hundred' followed by |
Also TEMPO = temporarily may be used |
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Met.
groups |
TSRA BKN010CB |
'Thunderstorm
with rain, broken cumulonimbus at one thousand feet' |
Met. group
follows indicating a change in some or all of the
elements forecast in the first part of the TAF |
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*Indicates a mandatory code element, CAVOK will replace visibility
and cloud groups
Example
18-hr TAF
FTUK31 EGGY 102200
EGLL 110624 13010KT 9000 BKN010 BECMG 0608 SCT015 BKN020
PROB30 TEMPO 0816 17025G40KT 4000 TSRA SCT010 BKN015CB BECMG 1821
3000 BR SKC=
Decode
Eighteen-hour TAF issued at 2200 Zulu on the 10th. London Heathrow
valid from oh six hundred to midnight the next day. Wind one three zero
degrees ten knots. Nine kilometres visibility. Broken at one thousand
feet. Becoming from oh six hundred to oh eight hundred, scattered at one
thousand five hundred feet, broken at two thousand feet. Prob thirty,
temporarily oh eight hundred to sixteen hundred, wind one seven zero
degrees twenty five knots, gusting to forty knots. Four thousand metres
visibility. Thundertorm with rain. Scattered at one thousand feet.
Broken cumulonimbus at one thousand five hundred feet. Becoming from
eighteen hundred to twenty one hundred, three thousand metres
visibility, mist, sky clear.
Example
9-hour TAF
FCUK33 EGGY 300900
EGGW 301019 23010KT 9999 SCT010 BKN018 BECMG 1114 6000 -RA BKN012
TEMPO 1418 2000 DZ OVC004 FM1800 30020G30KT 9999 -SHRA BKN015CB=
Decode
Nine-hour TAF issued at 0900 Zulu on the 30th. Luton valid from ten
hundred to nineteen hundred Zulu on the 30th. Wind two three zero
degrees ten knots. Ten kilometres or more visibility. Scattered at one
thousand feet. Broken at one thousand eight hundred feet. Becoming from
eleven hundred to fourteen hundred, six kilometres, light rain. Broken
at one thousand two hundred feet. Temporarily fourteen hundred to
eighteen hundred. Two thousand metres visibility. Moderate drizzle.
Overcast four hundred feet. From eighteen hundred, three zero zero
degrees twenty knots gusting to thirty knots. Ten kilometres or more
visibility. Light rain showers. Broken CB one thousand five hundred feet.
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