CODES Part 2 Weather Forecasting Handbook 1 ©1994, 1999 Tim Vasquez All rights reserved No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the express written permission of the publisher. REFERENCES Publication 306, Volume I and II, World Meteorological Organization, Geneva, Switzerland. Federal Meteorological Handbook #1, Surface Weather Observations and Reports. Federal Coordinator for Meteoro- logical Services and Supporting Research, Washington, DC. Available through the Internet at http://www.ofcm.gov/fmh- 1/fmh1.htm . Federal Meteorological Handbook #3, Rawinsonde and PIBAL Observations. Federal Coordinator for Meteorological Services and Supporting Research, Washington, DC. Available through the Internet at http://www.ofcm.gov/fmh3/text/ default.htm . Weather Graphics Technologies P.O. Box 450211 Garland, TX 75045 (888) 388-0070 fax (405) 329-5275 Web site: www.weathergraphics.com [email protected] 2 Contents 1. SYNOPTIC CODE..............................................................4 1.1. FORMAT ........................................................................................................................ 4 1.2. EXAMPLE ....................................................................................................................... 4 1.3. GROUP BREAKDOWN .................................................................................................. 4 1.3.1. Section 0 - Header information ................................................................................................................ 4 1.3.2. Section 1 - Weather information ............................................................................................................... 5 1.3.3. Section 2 - Maritime data ...................................................................................................................... 11 1.3.4. Section 3 - Regional supplementary data ............................................................................................... 14 1.3.5. Section 4 - Mountaintop station data...................................................................................................... 21 1.3.6. Section 5 - National data ....................................................................................................................... 22 2. METAR CODE..................................................................22 2.1. FORMAT ...................................................................................................................... 22 2.2. EXAMPLE ..................................................................................................................... 23 2.3. BREAKDOWN.............................................................................................................. 23 2.3.1. Body ......................................................................................................................................................... 23 2.3.2. Remarks .................................................................................................................................................... 27 3. TTAA UPPER-AIR CODE ..................................................32 3.1. FORMAT ...................................................................................................................... 32 3.2. EXAMPLE ..................................................................................................................... 33 3.3. BREAKDOWN.............................................................................................................. 33 3.3.1. Section 1 - Header information .............................................................................................................. 33 3.3.2. Section 2 - Basic weather data ............................................................................................................... 34 3.3.3. Section 3 - Tropopause data ................................................................................................................... 34 3.3.4. Section 4 - Maximum wind data ............................................................................................................ 35 3.3.5. Section 5 - Regional data (United States) ............................................................................................... 35 4. TERMINAL AERODROME FORECAST (TAF) ..................36 4.1. FORMAT ...................................................................................................................... 36 4.2. EXAMPLE ..................................................................................................................... 37 4.3. BREAKDOWN.............................................................................................................. 37 4.3.1. Station Identifier ....................................................................................................................................... 37 4.3.2. Date and Time of Origin ........................................................................................................................... 37 4.3.3. Valid Period Date and Time ...................................................................................................................... 37 4.3.4. Body of TAF .............................................................................................................................................. 37 4.3.5. Probability forecast ................................................................................................................................... 38 4.3.6. Forecast change indicators ....................................................................................................................... 38 IDENTIFIER MAP .................................................................40 IDENTIFIERS BY CODE .......................................................41 IDENTIFIERS BY STATE & CITY ...........................................51 CODES & CONTRACTIONS................................................61 PHONETIC ALPHABET ........................................................70 3 1. SYNOPTIC CODE Known by the World Meteorological Organization as the SYNOP (FM 12-IX) and SHIP (FM 13-IX) codes, this format has for years carried the majority of worldwide weather observations thousands of times a day. It looks intimidating at first, but beginners can quickly learn to break down the important parts of the code, particularly the valuable bits of informa- tion in Sections 0 and 1 that are important to a weather analysis. 1.1. FORMAT Each section is followed by a carriage return (linefeed), so that two sections are not collocated on the same line. Codes in parentheses are optionally included. Section 0 - Header information MiMiMjMj D....D or A1bwnbnbnb YYGGiw IIiii or 99LaLaLa QcLoLoLoLo Section 1 - Basic weather data IRIxhVV Nddff (00fff) 1SnTTT 2SnTdTdTd or 29UUU 3PoPoPoPo 4PPPP or 4a3hhh 5appp 6RRRtR 7wwW1W2 or 7wawawa1wa2 8NhCLCMCH 9GGgg Section 2 - Maritime data 222Dsvs (0snTwTwTw) (1PwaPwaHwaHwa) (2PwPwHwHw) [(3dw1dw1dw2dw2) (4Pw1Pw1Hw1Hw1) (5Pw2Pw2Hw2Hw2)) (6IsEsEsRs or ICING+plain language) (70HwaHwaHwa) (ICE+ciSibiDizi or plain language) Section 3 - Regional supplementary data 333 (0 . .) (1snTxTxTx) (2snTnTnTn) (3Ejjj) (4Esss) (5j1j2j3j4 (j5j6j7j8j9)) (6RRRtR) (7R24R24R24R24) (8NsChshs) (9SpSpspsp) (80000 (0 . .) (1 . .) . .) Section 4 - Mountaintop station data 444 NCHHCt Section 5 - National data 555 Groups here are specified and used by individual countries for disseminating special weather data that benefits their own agencies and users. 1.2. EXAMPLE 72261 35966 03211 10133 21100 39863 40235 53001 92353 333 10161 21027 555 91400= 1.3. GROUP BREAKDOWN 1.3.1. Section 0 - Header information MiMiMjMj Either AAXX if this is a land report, or BBXX if it is a ship report. D....D or A1bwnbnbnb Ship data. Not neccessary if the station is a land station and other parts of the same bulletin contain this item of informa- tion. D....D - Ships call sign, consisting of three or more alphanumeric characters. A1 - WMO Regional Association number where the buoy, drilling rig, or oil or gas production platform has been de- ployed. (See map) bw - Sub-area belonging to the area indicated by A1. (See map) nbnbnb - Type and serial number of buoy. 4 YYGGiw Time/date group. YY - Day of the month for the observation. GG - Actual time of observation to the nearest whole hour UTC (Universal Coordinated Time, also known as Zulu and Greenwich Mean Time). iw - Indicator for the source and units of wind speed. Code Meaning 0 Wind speed estimated in meters per second 1 Wind speed measured in meters per second 2 Wind speed estimated in knots 3 Wind speed measured in knots IIiii Land station number. Not neccessary if the station is a land station and other parts of the same bulletin contain this item of information. II - Station block number. Code Region 00-39 Europe 40-59 Asia 60-69 Africa 70-79 North America 80-88 South America 89 Antarctica 90-98 Pacific iii - Station number. These codes comprise a worldwide list of weather stations too numerous to list here. 99LaLaLa QcLoLoLoLo Ships latitude and longitude (location of the observation). LaLaLa - Latitude in tens, units, and tenths. Qc - Quadrant of globe. Code Location (latitude) Location (longitude) 1 North latitude East longitude 3 South latitude East longitude 5 South latitude West longitude 7 North latitude West Longitude LoLoLoLo - Longitude in hundreds,