Welcome to my Amateur Radio & General Aviation site. Click on the links and images to learn more about "Ham" Radio & Flying!

Learn morse code by clicking here

73 (best regards)
&
Fly Safe!

Mike Berlin

Amateur "Extra" Class License WU1M: Worked All States & Continents, CP-35, DXCC, ARRL Life Member.

Commercial Pilot, FAA Gold Seal & Master CFI-AIM, AIGI (Certified Flight Instructor - Airplane/Instrument/Single & Multiengine, Advanced & Instrument Ground Instructor), Remote Pilot - SUAS (Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems), FAA's Windsor Locks District & Eastern Regional 2006 "CFI of the Year", FAA Safety Team Representative & Major in the Civil Air Patrol (USAF Aux.).

Category Ceiling Visibility
Low Instrument Flight Rules
LIFR* (magenta sky symbol)
below 500 feet AGL and/or less than 1 mile
Instrument Flight Rules
IFR (red sky symbol)
500 to below 1,000 feet AGL and/or 1 mile to less than 3 miles
Marginal Visual Flight Rules
MVFR (blue sky symbol)
1,000 to 3,000 feet AGL and/or 3 to 5 miles
Visual Flight Rules
VFR+ (green sky symbol)
greater than 3,000 feet AGL and greater than 5 miles

*By definition, IFR is ceiling less than 1,000 feet AGL and/or visibility less than 3 miles while LIFR is a sub-category of IFR.

+By definition, VFR is ceiling greater than or equal to 3,000 feet AGL and visibility greater than or equal to 5 miles while MVFR is a sub-category of VFR.

Cloud coverage symbols
M
sky is clear by automated station
sky is clear overhead by sightings
few clouds
scattered clouds
broken ceiling
overcast ceiling
sky is obscured
missing
CLR
SKC
FEW
SCT
BKN
OVC
OVX

Automated stations report "CLR" when clouds may exist above 12,000 feet so a square is used to represent this uncertainty whereas an unfilled circle is used for "SKC" which a human reports the sky is completely clear overhead. The abbreviation "OVX" is unofficial but ADDS uses it here to indicate the sky is obscured which is the case when a METAR reports vertical visibility and no cloud information.

Weather information and color coding for informational purposes only. Contact Flight Service for official weather information.

Source: ADDS/NOAA

"Be-A-Pilot" link "AFD Online" link