Page 263 - PPL-engelsk 2025

Meteorology

3.4.8.1 Wind speed and wind direction – given in METAR

Wind reported in METAR (Meteorological Aerodrome Report – available at

www.northavimet.com) is the wind over the last 10 minutes, measured at 10

meters above the ground.

Wind direction in aviation is given as the average over the past 10 minutes and

from the geographical direction the wind comes from. After the wind direction,

the wind speed is provided.

In aviation, the unit "Knots" (Kt) is used, which is nautical miles per hour.

You may also encounter wind speeds reported in meters per second. It’s

important that you can convert meters per second to Kt. You do this by

multiplying meters per second by 2.

Example: If the wind is reported as 180/12, the wind is coming from the south,

and the wind speed is 12 Kt, which is 6 meters per second.

Wind reported in METAR (a meteorological information about current weather)
is the wind over the last 10 minutes, measured at 10 meters above the ground.

Example: METAR ekka 060850z 07021kt

This METAR from Karup (ekka) indicates that the wind:

- Was on the 6th day of the month

- At 08:50 UTC time

- Came from 070 degrees

- Speed was 21 knots.

Example: METAR eksk 060850z auto vrb11g26kt

This example from EKSK, measured automatically, indicates that the wind was
variable in direction with a speed of 11 kt.

"g26" means gusts up to 26 Kt.

Flight Theory PPL(A)(UL)/LAPL Henning Andersen, Midtjysk Flyveskole© 2025 263