Get Metar Rab 2020-2024

Cumulonimbus clouds (CB) are the only cloud type forecast in TAFs. When the sky is obscured due to a surface-based phenomenon, vertical visibility (VV) into the obscuration is forecast. The format for vertical visibility is VV followed by a three-digit height in hundreds of feet.

METAR Sky Conditions The first three letters FEW are the codes for the amount of coverage in the sky. The next three digits 020 mean the amount of feet (in hundreds) in which the clouds are located. In this case, there are Few at 2000 feet, Broken at 2400 feet and Overcast at 4900 feet.

Cloud amount is reported as FEW = few (1-2 oktas), SCT = scattered (3-4 oktas), BKN = broken (5-7 oktas) or OVC = overcast (8 oktas), followed by the height of the cloud base in hundreds of feet above aerodrome elevation e.g. SCT018 = scattered clouds at 1800 ft.

The preface of a “6” indicates rainfall, in 0.01″, in the past six hours. “60000” indicates a trace of precipitation, so “6////” is used to indicate no rain at all.

Meteorological Aerodrome Report (METAR)

Clear skies shall be coded in the format, SKC or CLR, where SKC is the abbreviation used by manual stations to indicate no layers are present and CLR is the abbreviation used by automated stations to indicate no layers are detectedd at or below 12,000 feet.

The cloud cover will either be FEW (1/8 TO 2/8 cloud coverage), SCT (SCATTERED, 3/8 TO 4/8 cloud coverage, BKN (5/8-7/8 coverage), and OVC (OVERCAST, 8/8 Coverage). An indefinite ceiling caused by fog, rain, snow, etc., will require a designator as VV (Vertical Visibility).

Rain. RAB. Rain Began @ HHMM (RAB 1421) or as Min past hour (RAB 21) [METAR]

Cloud Height: Remember, METAR and TAF report the height of clouds AGL, not MSL. OVC040 = Overcast at 4,000 ft above the airport. If the airport is 1,000 ft, cloud bases are then at 5,000 ft MSL. If the airport is in a valley, it may be VFR but surrounding mountains may be obscured by clouds.

SCT (Scattered) means 3-5 oktas (eighths) of the sky is covered, BKN (Broken) means 6-7 oktas. 006 and 012 are the cloud base heights, in hundreds of feet above ground level (not sea level), therefore the METAR reports Scattered clouds at 600ft and Broken clouds at 1,200ft above ground level (agl).