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SESK: Stuff Everyone Should Know · sesk.info/pilot-ceiling-definition

In an aviation weather report, what is the ceiling?

The lowest broken or overcast cloud layer.

  1. The highest cloud layer reported
  2. The lowest broken or overcast layer ✔
  3. The lowest layer of any clouds, even few

Why: A ceiling is the lowest layer reported as broken (BKN) or overcast (OVC). Few and scattered layers do not count. If the sky is totally obscured, the vertical visibility is the ceiling.

Huh, didn't know that: Cloud heights up to 5,000 feet are reported to the nearest 100 feet.

The dad joke
Why did the cloud break up with the fog? It needed more space.
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Sources

  1. FAA Aviation Weather Handbook (FAA-H-8083-28B), Chapter 24 https://www.faa.gov/sites/faa.gov/files/FAA-H-8083-28B.pdf

Test yourself in the game

Flying & DronesA METAR reports BKN008. How high is that cloud layer?Flying & DronesIn a METAR, wind 14021G26KT is from 140 degrees measured from what?Flying & DronesWithout special VFR, what minimum ceiling lets you fly VFR beneath it in a Class D surface area?

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