I'm sure this has been asked before, but I can't find it on Google,
so... is there a website anywhere with a TAF decoder? I don't just mean
a key to the symbols, but somewhere where you can take a TAF string,
put it in a box, press a button and get an English translation. I know
programs exist to do this - I just can't find one!

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David Buttery wrote here on 23
Feb 2004:

I'm sure this has been asked before, but I can't find it on
Google, so... is there a website anywhere with a TAF decoder?
snip

Ah, never mind, I think I've more or less got the hang of it now - to
keep things on topic, here's a recent one with (I hope!) a correct
translation:

EGBB 241038Z 241812 34008KT 9999 SCT030
TEMPO 1823 8000 -RA BKN012 PROB40
TEMPO 1823 4000 -RASN BKN008

Birmingham Airport, issued 24th (ie today) at 10:38z. Valid from
18:00 tonight to 12:00 tomorrow. Wind 8 kts from bearing 340 degrees.
Visibility more than 10km. Scattered clouds 3000 feet. Between 18:00
and 23:00 a 30-50% chance of visibility reducing to 8000 metres with
light rain and broken cloud at 1200 feet, and also a 30-50% chance of
visibility down to 4000 metres with light sleet and broken cloud at
800 feet.

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David Buttery wrote here on 24
Feb 2004:

Ah, never mind, I think I've more or less got the hang of it now -
to keep things on topic, here's a recent one with (I hope!) a
correct translation

Well, nearly correct - I'd read it as having two PROB40s instead of
only one. :-S

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"David Buttery" wrote in message


Snip

Ah, never mind, I think I've more or less got the hang of it now - to
keep things on topic, here's a recent one with (I hope!) a correct
translation:

EGBB 241038Z 241812 34008KT 9999 SCT030
TEMPO 1823 8000 -RA BKN012 PROB40
TEMPO 1823 4000 -RASN BKN008

Birmingham Airport, issued 24th (ie today) at 10:38z. Valid from
18:00 tonight to 12:00 tomorrow. Wind 8 kts from bearing 340 degrees.
Visibility more than 10km. Scattered clouds 3000 feet. Between 18:00
and 23:00 a 30-50% chance of visibility reducing to 8000 metres with
light rain and broken cloud at 1200 feet, and also a 30-50% chance of
visibility down to 4000 metres with light sleet and broken cloud at
800 feet.

Well in the case of the first TEMPO there's no PROB, so the forecast
conditions should occur as defined in the UK AIP :-

"The change indicator TEMPO followed by a four figure time group
indicates a period of temporary fluctuations to the forecast
meteorological conditions which may occur at any time during the period
given. The conditions following these groups are expected to last less
than one hour each instance and in aggregate less than half the period
indicated."

PROB40 means the probability of occurance is 40%, PROB30 - 30%, there
are no other PROBs in use.

Jon.


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"David Buttery" wrote in message


David Buttery wrote here on 24
Feb 2004:

Ah, never mind, I think I've more or less got the hang of it now -
to keep things on topic, here's a recent one with (I hope!) a
correct translation

Well, nearly correct - I'd read it as having two PROB40s instead of
only one. :-S


Ahh, you beat me to it while I was ploughing through the not very
exciting Aeronautical Information Package !

Jon.


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"Jon O Rourke" wrote here on 24 Feb 2004:

snip
PROB40 means the probability of occurance is 40%, PROB30 - 30%,
there are no other PROBs in use.

Jon.

Thanks. Actually, I was going to put a straight 40%, but this page:

http://www.crh.noaa.gov/lot/aviation/tafcode.html

says: "The PROB40 group is used when the occurrence of thunderstorms or
precipitation is in the 30% to less than 50% range" - and so I changed
my own translation to 30-50%.

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"David Buttery" wrote in message


snip

Thanks. Actually, I was going to put a straight 40%, but this page:

http://www.crh.noaa.gov/lot/aviation/tafcode.html

says: "The PROB40 group is used when the occurrence of thunderstorms or
precipitation is in the 30% to less than 50% range" - and so I changed
my own translation to 30-50%.

Interesting. All I can say is that they do things a little differently
across the pond...

Also on that page is this statement "PROB40 will not be shown during the
first six hours of a forecast." I'd like to see the verification figures
!

They also tend to use FM a lot rather than BECMG (min 2 hour period, max
4) eg :-

(New York) KJFK 170914Z 170913 03021G32KT 6SM -RA BR OVC012 TEMPO 0913
3SM RA BR
OVC008 FM1400 02013G20KT 5SM -RA BR OVC012 FM2100 36011KT 5SM -RA BR
OVC020 FM0400 34009KT 5SM -RA BR OVC015

I've yet to reach that level of accuracy ;-)

Jon.




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I'm sure this has been asked before, but I can't find it on
Google, so... is there a website anywhere with a TAF decoder?
snip

You will get the hang of it if you think of it as a "foreign language" . I
did of course spent a whole career reading Tafs and Metars and nowadays
never consciously translate - I just "read" and my warped brain interprets
the meanings without any actual intermediate process.

I must say the one aspect that still never comes naturally though is all
this SCT, BKN, etc. Why on earth they didn't stick to oktas is one of
life's mysteries. I believe it's something to do with the American
influence where they use (or used to use) tenths and they wanted to make the
whole world use the same system (or something like that)


Jack

"Jon O Rourke"

I've yet to reach that level of accuracy ;-)

When I was based at RAF Strubby, we had a wonderful met man called Max Mekin
(a Pole or a Czech - not too sure of the spelling of his name)

Max would say something like:
"The cold font. He is due at 1020 ...... maybe 1025"
and damn me, Max was usually right.

Jack