RAE42 . rain ended at four two
SNB42 . snow began at four two
METAR KSFO 041453Z AUTO VRB02KT 3SM
BR CLR 15/12 A3012 RMK AO2
METAR aviation routine weather
report
KSFO San Francisco, CA
041453Z date 4th, time 1453 UTC
AUTO . fully automated; no human
intervention
VRB02KT wind variable at two
3SM . visibility three
BR visibility obscured by mist
CLR . no clouds below one two
thousand
15/12 . temperature one five, dew
point one two
A3012 altimeter three zero one two
RMK remarks
AO2 . this automated station has a
weather discriminator (for
precipitation)
SPECI KCVG 152224Z 28024G36KT 3/4SM
+TSRA BKN008 OVC020CB 28/23 A3000 RMK
TSRAB24 TS W MOV E
SPECI . (nonroutine) aviation special
weather report
KCVG . Cincinnati, OH
152228Z date 15th, time 2228 UTC
(no modifier) This is a manually generated
report due to the absence of
"AUTO" and "AO1 or AO2"
in remarks
28024G36KT wind two eight zero at
two four gusts three six
3/4SM visibility three fourths
+TSRA . thunderstorms, heavy rain
BKN008
ceiling eight hundred broken
OVC020CB . two thousand overcast
cumulonimbus clouds
28/23 . temperature two eight,
dew point two three
A3000 altimeter three zero zero zero
RMK remarks
TSRAB24 . thunderstorm and rain began
at two four

7-1-68

TS W MOV E

thunderstorm west moving
east

c. Aerodrome Forecast (TAF). A concise statement of the expected meteorological conditions at an
airport during a specified period. At most locations,
TAFs have a 24 hour forecast period. However, TAFs
for some locations have a 30 hour forecast period.
These forecast periods may be shorter in the case of
an amended TAF. TAFs use the same codes as
METAR weather reports. They are scheduled four
times daily for 24-hour periods beginning at 0000Z,
0600Z, 1200Z, and 1800Z.
Forecast times in the TAF are depicted in two ways.
The first is a 6-digit number to indicate a specific
point in time, consisting of a two-digit date,
two-digit hour, and two-digit minute (such as
issuance time or FM). The second is a pair of
four-digit numbers separated by a "/" to indicate a
beginning and end for a period of time. In this case,
each four-digit pair consists of a two-digit date and
a two-digit hour.
TAFs are issued in the following format:
TYPE OF REPORT/ICAO STATION IDENTIFIER/
DATE AND TIME OF ORIGIN/VALID PERIOD
DATE AND TIME/FORECAST METEOROLOGICAL CONDITIONS
NOTE-
The "/" above and in the following descriptions are for
separation purposes in this publication and do not appear
in the actual TAFs.

TAF KORD 051130Z 0512/0618 14008KT 5SM BR
BKN030
TEMPO 0513/0516 1 1/2SM BR
FM051600 16010KT P6SM SKC
FM052300 20013G20KT 4SM SHRA OVC020
PROB40 0600/0606 2SM TSRA OVC008CB
BECMG 0606/0608 21015KT P6SM NSW
SCT040
TAF format observed in the above example:
TAF = type of report
KORD = ICAO station identifier
051130Z = date and time of origin (issuance time)
0512/0618 = valid period date and times
14008KT 5SM BR BKN030 = forecast meteorological conditions
Explanation of TAF elements:

Meteorology