Not sure if this is the right forum area, but I could not think of where else to post this.

I keep a close eye on the weather at the field I fly. This is the site that I check, http://www.wrh.noaa.gov/mesowest/get...e=1&banner=off

I was trying to figure out what the weather codes mean? ie, under the wind column, it has 17G26, then the visibility's, then there is a WX and there is a -RA, followed by the cloud reading, OVC034.

This info was taking form the 21 May 10:25 am line.

If you look, there is diff colors and diff numbers to describe the conditions.

I'm just curious about what it all means.

You might find a more reasonable to read source. On our web site, I've put up links to both a forecast and ambint weather.

Here is the forcast for Salt Lake City
http://www.usairnet.com/cgi-bin/laun...=KSLC&state=UT

For the ambiant weather I use a Weather Underground link. Here is the one for Salt Lake City. Note that if you look at the stations you can usually find one very near your field. For us, it is imporant because of the micro climates here.
http://www.wunderground.com/cgi-bin/...ake+City%2C+Ut

From there, select Weather Stations below the radar map. You will get a list of the stations near Salt Lake City. If you select one of the stations, you will get something like this.
http://www.wunderground.com/weathers...?ID=KUTSALTL17

Note that the upper right is a real time wind speed and direction. Scroll down and you can see the days tracking. Near the top, you can change the day that is displayed.

Don

Been a while since I read a terminal report but here goes........... [:O]

Wind is gusting 17 to 26 kts , -RA (light rain), overcast sky ceiling height 3400ft



I hope this helps!

Aviation Weather Abbreviations

Standard abbreviations used in aviation forecasts.

CLR Sky clear
FEW Few clouds BR Light fog FZ Freezing
SCT Scattered clouds FG Thick fog TS Thunderstorm
BKN Broken clouds DZ Drizzle
OVC Overcast clouds RA Rain
VV Vertical Visibility SN Snow

- Light CIG Ceiling
+ Heavy BLO Below
/ Missing or separator AFT After
G Gusts OBSCD Obscured
SM Statue Miles Trrn Terrain
KT Knots
FM From
SLP Sea Level Pressure
TEMPO Occasionally
Axxxx Altimeter setting (xxxx are numbers)
Pxxxx Hourly Precipitation (xxxx are numbers)
PRESFR Pressure falling rapidly
PRESRR Pressure rising rapidly
RMK Remarks

This is the one I use:

http://www.usairnet.com/cgi-bin/laun...bmit=Go&state=

Select your state, then select your nearest airport.

It is by far the most accurate one I've seen and it's very easy to understand

21 May 11:20 am 48 36 62 N 17 10.00 FEW050 29.68 25.421 OK


21 May 11:20 am = the actual observation time was 11:20 AM local time.(MDT in this case) on May 21
48 36 62 = temp was 48 deg F, dew point (temp at which fog might occur) was 36 and relative humidity or 62%
N 17 10.00 wind from the North at 17 mph with a visibility of 10 miles.
FEW050 = a few clouds at 5000 ft above the ground
29.68 = Barometric pressure of 29.68 in of Mercury
25.421 = I don't know that one.
OK = air quality OK

This is what I use. I accidently found this one day on the noaa website. You will of course need to try and find the one for your area. It seems to be pretty accurate, at least for the 48 hours that they project.
http://www.wrh.noaa.gov/sgx/digital/display_gfe_3hours.php?wfo=sgx&title=Surface%20Win d%20(3-hourly)&variable=Wind

Think I'm using the same one as Mike for my local weather. Problem here is it can be calm over by the Vegas strip and blowing hard on the eastern side of Henderson or the other way around. I can't tell anything from where I live, I always seem to have A good breeze blowing but I have learned to kinda gauge what is going on at the fields from what the report is saying.