SESKStuff Everyone Should Know
SESK: Stuff Everyone Should Know · sesk.info/drone-metar-cloud-heights-agl

A METAR reports BKN008. How high is that cloud layer?

800 feet above ground level, because cloud bases are coded in hundreds of feet AGL.

  1. 8,000 feet above sea level
  2. 800 feet above ground level ✔
  3. 80 feet above ground level

Why: METAR cloud heights use three digits in hundreds of feet above the ground. So 008 is 800 feet, and BKN means broken, five to seven eighths of the sky covered.

Huh, didn't know that: Automated stations don't detect or report clouds above 12,000 feet.

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Sources

  1. FAA Remote Pilot Study Guide (FAA-G-8082-22), Ch. 3a https://www.faa.gov/sites/faa.gov/files/regulations_policies/handbooks_manuals/aviation/remote_pilot_study_guide.pdf

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