| CODE ELEMENT |
EXAMPLE |
DECODE |
NOTES |
|
1 Report type
|
| |
TAF |
'TAF' |
Name for an aerodrome
forecast |
|
2 Location
|
| |
EGSS |
'London
Stansted' |
Station four-letter ICAO
indicator |
|
3 Date/Time of origin
|
|
|
130500Z |
'For the 13th at oh, five, hundred, Zulu' |
Usually omitted |
|
4 Validity time
|
|
|
130716 |
'Valid from oh, seven, hundred, to, sixteen, hundred, on the 13th' |
UTC (Greenwich
Mean Time) |
|
5 Wind
|
|
|
31015G25KT |
'Three one zero degrees fifteen, max twenty five knots' |
VRB = Variable;
00000KT = calm |
|
6 Min visibility or CAVOK*
|
|
|
8000 |
'Eight kilometres' |
9999 = 10 km or
more; 0000 = less than 50 metres |
|
7 Significant weather
|
|
|
-SHRA |
'Light rain showers' |
See present
weather table on METAR page for details; NSW = No significant
weather |
|
8 Cloud
|
|
|
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 |
|
9 Significant changes
|
| 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 |
| 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 |
|
*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.
|
