The TAFs page displays current surface observations. This page uses OpenLayers to provide an interactive display of data including zoom and pan and each observation can be clicked on to get more information.
Parameter Output
Here is a list of the parameters that can be displayed:
station model - This is a standard station model with visibility far left, weather near left, cloud cover colored by flight category and wind barb.
visibility - The visibility in whole miles (km if metric selected). If visibility is less than or equal to 2 miles, the tenth's digit will be shown in red.
ceiling - The cloud ceiling in 100s of ft (BKN, OVC, OVX only)
cloud cover - A cloud coverage symbol
winds - Wind barbs with full barb at 10 knots
wind speed - The speed in knots
wind gust - The wind gusts in knots
flight cat - Colored circles representing flight category: green = VFR, blue = MVFR, red = IFR, magenta = LIFR
When the site is clicked, a dialog box appears with the latest raw TAF data displayed. If the decoded option is set, decoded data for the requested forecast hour will display in place of the TAF. If the metar option is set, the latest METAR will be appended to the end of the data.
The data density setting changes the priority level of data to display. Selecting “-1” will reduce the number of stations plotted. A “+1” will roughly double the number. A “+2” will double again the number of plotted stations. Select the density appropriate to the needed plot.
Station Model Plot
Figure 1: Station Model Plot
In many cases, the data are plotted using standard symbols and plotting models. Fig. 1 shows the station model used in the METAR and TAF plots.
Ceil - Ceiling height in hundreds of feet. This represents the height of the lowest broken or overcast cloud layer.
Id - The 4 letter ICAO identifier for the site. KRFD is Rockford IL.
Windbarb - The wind barb. The stick points in the direction the winds are coming from. Each full barb represents 10 knots of wind. Each half barb represents 5 knots. Red represents wind gusts. In this case, you have winds from the SSW at 25 knots with gusts to 30 knots.
Figure 2: Wind barbs
If the wind direction is variable, you will see a circle around the station and a wind barb pointing north showing wind speed and gusts.
Figure 3: Variable Wind barbs
Vis - The visibility plotted to the left of the weather symbol, in statute miles (km for metric).
Wx - A symbol representing present weather plotted just to the left of the cloud cover symbol.
Cover - The cloud cover symbol is plotted in the center. The amount the circle is filled represents the amount of cloud cover. In this case, it’s overcast. The color of the circle represents the flight conditions:
Figure 4: Flight category icon color
green - VFR (Visual Flight Rules)
blue - MVFR (Marginal Visual Flight Rules)
red - IFR (Instrument Flight Rules)
purple - LIFR (Low Instrument Flight Rules)
URL Options
Here is a list of the URL options:
date=yyyymmddhhnn - This selects a specific date and time
to display.
time=hr - This selects the initial time on the time slider
(def: 0).
timelabform={full|simple} - This selects time slider labels. Full
shows -/+ hours from current. Simple shows just the time and "Forecast for"
if it's a future time.
refresh=min - This sets the auto-refresh time interval
(def: 5 min).
tz=tz - This sets the time zone to show in the date header.
This can be "local" which is the browser time zone or "label,offset" which
is the zone name and offset in hours. For example "CDT,-5". (def: UTC).
region=reg - This will center the map to a specific region.
Options include: "conus", "us", "northeast", "ne", "southeast", "se",
"northcentral", "nc", "southcentral", "sc", "northwest", "nw",
"southwest", "sw", "alaska", "ak", "hawaii", "hi", "gulfmexico", "gmx",
"caribbean", "car", "europe", "eur", "southamerica", "sam", "easia", "eas",
"australia", "aus", "zab", "zau", "zbw", "zdc", "zdv", "zhu", "zfw",
"zid", "zjx", "zkc", "zla", "zlc", "zma", "zme", "zmp", "zny",
"zoa", "zob", "zse", "ztl" (def: none).
center=lat,lon - This will center the map at a specific
latitude and longitude. The default is 39,-97.
zoom=level - This sets the zoom level. The default is 4.
A higher number zooms in. A lower number zooms out.
fullmode=(screen|window) - This sets the full screen mode. "screen"
sets it to full screen. "window" sets it to fill the current browser window. The
default is screen.
fullscreen=(on|off) - This sets the display to go into full window
if fullmode=window.
basemap=(light|dark|simple) - This selects the
type of basemap. The default is light.
taf={on|off} - This turns the TAF layer on or off. The
default is on.
tafplot=param - This selects the display parameter. The
default is model. Multiple parameters can be selected separated by commas.
Options are:
model - station model, all on
vis - visibility
ceil - cloud ceiling
cover - cloud cover
wind - wind barb
wspd - wind speed
wgst - wind gust
cat - flight category
wx - weather symbol
id - station identifier
tafdensity={-1|0|+1|+2} - The TAF data density. The greater the
number the more stations will plot. The default is 0.
tafdecoded={on|off} - Specifies to show decoded data in popup
dialog box. The default is off.
taftempo={on|off} - Specifies to show TEMPO or PREVAIL data. The
default is off.
tafmetar={on|off} - Specifies to add raw METAR to popup dialog box. The
default is off.
tafscale=## - Specifies scale factor for the data icon.
The default is 1.
highways={on|off} - Turns highway layer on or off. These are
primarily interstates. The default is off.
jetroutes={on|off} - Turns the jetroutes layer on or off. The
default is off.
firs={on|off} - Turns the ARTCC/FIR layer on or off. The default
is off.
metric={on|off} - Specifies to display data in metric units. The
default is off.
mouseformat={deg|dm|dms} - Specifies to format for the mouse location:
degrees, degree/frac. minute, degree/minute/second. The default is deg.
level=## - Specifies value of the level in the level slider.
The default is none.
hover={on|off} - Turns on hover for features. The popups will
come up when mouse hovers. Default is off.
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