Meteorology
This domain tests tropical East African weather, the hazards that affect IFR flight, and your ability to decode reports and forecasts and apply them to altimetry and planning.
Climate and hazards
Kenya's weather is driven by the ITCZ, monsoon flow and terrain. Long rains occur from March to May and short rains from October to December. Afternoon and evening thunderstorms are common over the highlands and Lake Victoria, with orographic cloud, valley fog, dust and haze, icing in cumulus and cumulonimbus, wind shear and microbursts, and mountain waves over the Aberdares and Mount Kenya.
Reports and forecasts
METAR and TAF use UTC, wind in degrees and knots, visibility in metres, cloud heights in feet AGL, temperature and dewpoint, and QNH in hectopascals. 9999 means 10 km or more. TEMPO and BECMG indicate temporary or gradual change; SIGMETs warn of thunderstorms, icing and turbulence.
Altimetry
QNH is set below the transition altitude, published as 14,500 ft in the Nairobi FIR. Cold temperatures make true altitude lower than indicated, so apply temperature correction when terrain or minima are critical.
Worked example
Decode: HKJK 121200Z 05010KT 8000 -TSRA SCT018CB BKN040 19/16 Q1015 TEMPO 3000 TSRA. Wind 050 at 10 kt; visibility 8 km; light thunderstorm rain; CB at 1,800 ft; broken at 4,000 ft; temperature 19 °C, dewpoint 16 °C; QNH 1015 hPa; temporarily 3 km in thunderstorm rain. Expect shear and a possible go-around.
Marks-losing traps
Reading 8000 as 800 m; treating TAF times as local; assuming TEMPO weather is certain; confusing QNH and QFE; ignoring density altitude.