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CAA NZ CPL Meteorology study materials
CAA NZ CPL Meteorology study resources

CAA NZ CPL Meteorology: Aviation Weather Products (CAA NZ CPL Meteorology)

CAA NZ CPL Meteorology · Work through your exam, one topic at a time.

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Aviation Weather Products (CAA NZ CPL Meteorology)

Aviation weather products

This domain tests whether you know which New Zealand aviation weather product to consult, what it contains, and how its issue and validity times constrain its use.

Product family

  • METAR/SPECI: routine and special aerodrome observations. METAR is issued at fixed intervals (commonly hourly at NZ controlled aerodromes); SPECI is issued when specified conditions change. Decode in the standard order: wind, visibility/RVR, weather, cloud, temperature/dewpoint, QNH, trend.
  • TAF: aerodrome forecast with a stated validity, change groups (FM, BECMG, TEMPO, PROB30/40) and forecast conditions. The validity and issue time are part of the product; a TAF is not an observation.
  • ARFOR/GRAFOR: New Zealand area forecasts, text and graphical, for the lower-level airspace published in their coverage. Use them for en route trends where aerodrome TAFs do not cover the route.
  • SIGMET/AIRMET: warnings of hazardous en route weather. SIGMET covers severe turbulence, severe icing, thunderstorms, volcanic ash and tropical cyclones; AIRMET covers lower-level moderate hazards.
  • PIREP/AIREP and amendments: pilot reports and corrected/amended products. An AMD or COR supersedes the earlier version.

Worked example

A TAF reads NZAA 0510/0612 24015KT 9999 SCT025 TEMPO 0512/0516 4000 SHRA BKN015. The prevailing forecast is 15 kt from 240°, 10 km or more, scattered cloud at 2,500 ft. Between 12Z and 16Z on the 5th, temporary conditions may fall to 4 km in showers with broken cloud at 1,500 ft. Reason: the TEMPO group is conditional and time-limited, so you plan for the possibility but do not treat it as the prevailing forecast; if your minima or alternate requirements cannot tolerate it, adjust the plan.

Traps

Using a TAF as current weather; ignoring issue/validity times; treating PROB30 as certain; confusing SIGMET and AIRMET thresholds; and forgetting that NZ METAR/TAF winds are true, while ATIS wind is magnetic.