Guide to weather symbols
The above is a typical simplified weather symbol from a chart of weather observations. Let’s look at some other symbols which you may come across when looking at weather reports.
Wind speed: the Beaufort Scale.
In addition to showing the speed of the wind, the direction the tail is pointing in gives the wind direction: in all the weather symbols above, the wind direction is north-easterly, ie from the north east.
Cloud cover
Cloud cover is measure in Oktas, or how many eighths of the sky is cloudy.
Precipitation:
You can find more information about how both manual and automatic weather station observations are recorded on the MetLink website.
Come Rain or Shine: Understanding the Weather
Come Rain or Shine: Understanding the Weather
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