Present Weather and Visibility
To the left of the cloud shape in the center of the station model is the symbol depicting present weather. The present weather symbol depicts the current weather which normally is obstructing the visibility at the time of observation. The visibility itself is shown as a number, in statute miles in the United States and meters elsewhere, describing how far the observer can see at that time. This number is located to the left of the present weather symbol. For pilots, knowledge of the horizontal visibility helps determine if they are flying through instrument meteorological conditions, such as foggy or smokey conditions, as well as areas of intense precipitation. Present weather depicted with the station model can include:
- Dust
- Fog
- Haze
- Ocean spray
- Precipitation
- Sand
- Smoke
- Thunderstorms
- Volcanic ash
Read more about this topic: Station Model
Famous quotes containing the words present, weather and/or visibility:
“The salt person and blasted place
I furnish with the meat of a fable;
If the dead starve, their stomachs turn to tumble
An upright man in the antipodes
Or spray-based and rock-chested sea:
Over the past table I repeat this present grace.”
—Dylan Thomas (1914–1953)
“Winter lies too long in country towns; hangs on until it is stale and shabby, old and sullen. On the farm the weather was the great fact, and men’s affairs went on underneath it, as the streams creep under the ice. But in Black Hawk the scene of human life was spread out shrunken and pinched, frozen down to the bare stalk.”
—Willa Cather (1873–1947)
“My children have taught me things. Things I thought I knew. The most profound wisdom they have given me is a respect for human vulnerability. I have known that people are resilient, but I didn’t appreciate how fragile they are. Until children learn to hide their feelings, you read them in their faces, gestures, and postures. The sheer visibility of shyness, pain, and rejection let me recognize and remember them.”
—Shirley Nelson Garner (20th century)