Aviation Weather Symbols

Light Rain

-RA

Moderate Rain

RA

Heavy Rain

+RA

Light Freezing Rain

-FZRA

Moderate to Heavy Freezing Rain

FZRA +FZRA

Light Rain and Snow

-RASN

Moderate to Heavy Rain and Snow

RASN + RASN

Light Snow

-SN

Snow

SN

Heavy Snow

+SN

Blowing Snow

BLSN

Drifting Snow

DRSN

Snow Grains

SG

Ice Crystals

IC

Ice Pellets

PE PL

Light Rain Showers

-SHRA

Moderate to Heavy Rain Showers

SHRA +SHRA

Light Rain and Snow Showers

-SHRASN

Moderate to heavy rain and snow showers

SHRASN +SHRASN

Light Snow Showers

-SHSN

Moderate to heavy snow showers

SHSN +SHSN

Light showers with hail, not with thunder

-GR

Moderate to heavy showers with hail, not with thunder

GR

Vicinity showers

VCSH

Vicinity thunderstorm

VCTS

Vicinity thunderstorm with rain

VCTSRA

Thunderstorm with or without precipitation

TS

Thunderstorm with light to moderate rain

TSRA

Thunderstorm with heavy rain

+TSRA

Thunderstorm with light to moderate hail

TSGR

Thunderstorm with light to moderate snow

TSSN

Squalls

SQ

Funnel Cloud or Tornado

FC

Mist or Light Fog

BR

Fog, sky indiscernible

FG

More or less continuous shallow fog

MIFG

Vicinity Fog

VCFG

Patchy Fog

BCFG

Fog, sky discernible

PRFG

Freezing Fog

FZFG

Light Drizzle

-DZ

Drizzle

DZ

Heavy Drizzle

+DZ

Light Freezing Drizzle

-FZDZ

Moderate to heavy freezing drizzle

FZDZ +FZDZ

Light drizzle and rain

-DZRA

Moderate to heavy drizzle and rain

DZRA

Virga or precipitation not hitting ground

VIRGA

Smoke or Volcanic Ash

FU VA

Haze

HZ

Dust or Sand

DU SA

Blowing Dust/Blowing Sand

BLDU/BLSA

Dust Devil

PO

Vicinity Sand Storm

VCSS

Sand Storm

SS

Strong Sand Storm

+SS

Unknown Precipitation/Weather

UP

Turbulence not encountered

Smooth-light turbulence

Light turbulence

Light-moderate turbulence

Moderate turbulence

Moderate-severe turbulence

Severe turbulence

Extreme turbulence

Low-level wind shear

Icing not encountered

Trace icing

Trace to light icing

Light icing

Light to moderate icing

Moderate icing

Moderate to severe icing

Severe icing

Other

Clear

CLR

Few

FEW

Scattered

SCT

Broken

BKN

Overcast

OVC

Vertical visibility

VV/OVX

Missing

No ceiling or ceiling greater than 3,000 feet AGL and greater than 5 mile visibility

VFR

VFR with non-ceiling clouds below 3,000 ft AGL

VFR*

1,000 to 3,000 feet AGL and/or 3 to 5 miles

MVFR

500 to below 1,000 feet AGL and/or 1 mile to less than 3 miles

IFR

Below 500 feet AGL and/or less than 1 mile

LIFR

Runway visual range

- M means Minus (or below)

- P means Plus (or above)

What does RVR mean?

The station has no way to differentiate between types of precipitation. It may be raining or snowing, but you won't know it if you see an AO1.

What does A01 mean?

The station can tell the difference between snow and rain.

What does A02 mean?

"350" indicate the wind direction it's coming from.

The next two numbers, "45" indicate the wind speed in knots.

The number after the slash is the time after the hour. The "20" in this case means the peak wind happened at 20 past the hour.

Decode PKWND 35045/20