AOPA DUAT's weather briefing terminology

[vjdslk]

I received a briefing today that said in part...."wind 230 degrees at 9 knots, visability 10 miles, 800 feet few, temperature 19c, dewpoint 12c......"

My question is what does the "few" mean for ceiling report?

Thanks!

Jon D.

 

[n5lp]

I received a briefing today that said in part...."wind 230 degrees at 9 knots, visability 10 miles, 800 feet few, temperature 19c, dewpoint 12c......"

My question is what does the "few" mean for ceiling report?

Thanks!

Jon D.

Few is less than scattered, if that hasn't changed since my wx ob days that would be less than .1 coverage, or since you round off, less than .05. No ceiling.

 

[vjdslk]

Thanks Larry, I appreciate it!

Jon

 

[cfiidon]

Few, Scattered, Broken and Overcast

Divide the sky into eighths:

Then

One to two, that's a FEW

Three to Four, SCATTERED on the floor (as viewed from above)

Five Six or Seven, it's a BROKEN view of heaven

If it's eight, it's too late, cuz it's OVERCAST

That's how I teach folks to remember it. Work's for me....

BTW, Broken and Overcast are "ceilings", few and scattered are not. Also note that when reporting multiple layers, they are reported from least to greatest, in other words "Few clouds five thousand, scattered six thousand,eight thousand overcast", never the other way around.