All About Precipitation

Chances are youve looked at that table of precipitation types in aviation meteorology books and been fascinated by all the different possibilities. We see all these different types of codes in METAR and TAF reports every day, so why do ground schools just give us the decoding tables and not much else? Each kind of code tells its own little story about what the air mass is doing, whats going on at that airfield, and how the weather will affect flight operations.

Tim Vasquez

Sunday, October 08, 2017 at 12:00 AM ET

Verified

Key Takeaways:

The article details various precipitation types encountered in aviation, such as rain, snow, freezing rain, drizzle, hail, fog, and ice pellets, explaining their formation and meteorological characteristics.
Each precipitation type carries unique implications for flight operations, impacting visibility, icing potential (e.g., severe clear icing from freezing rain, light rime from freezing fog), and turbulence.
Understanding these phenomena beyond mere decoding allows pilots to interpret METAR/TAF reports more effectively, anticipate weather hazards like white-out or structural damage, and make informed safety decisions.

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Chances are you’ve looked at that table of precipitation types in aviation meteorology books and been fascinated by all the different possibilities. We see all these different types of codes in METAR and TAF reports every day, so why do ground schools just give us the decoding tables and not much else? Each kind of code tells its own little story about what the air mass is doing, what’s going on at that airfield, and how the weather will affect flight operations.

Here we’ll delve deep into precipitation and get familiar with each type. Hopefully, after this article if you see PL or SHRA in the TAF, you will think like a forecaster and understand where the precipitation came from and what it means for your flight. You will not just know what the precipitation is; you will understand its tale.