What does thunderstorms in vicinity mean?
This means the storm is in the process of falling apart and a downburst is likely. Depending on your location to the storm, you may experience anything from a cool breeze to a powerful or damaging wind. When thunderstorms are in the vicinity, always be aware of the possibility of strong or severe weather.
How far should you stay away from thunderstorms?
Avoid all thunderstorms. Never go closer than 5 miles to any visible storm cloud with overhanging areas, and strongly consider increas- ing that distance to 20 miles or more. You can encounter hail and violent turbulence anywhere within 20 miles of very strong thunderstorms.
What are Vicinity showers?
1.2 The term Vicinity (VC) is used in the METAR and SPECI to note certain weather phenomena away from the aerodrome. For example, showers observed approximately 10 km from the aerodrome would be reported as VCSH.
What are localized thunderstorms?
Isolated thunderstorms These storms are sometimes called air-mass or local thunderstorms. They are mostly vertical in structure, are relatively short-lived, and usually do not produce violent weather at the ground.
What is VCTS on a TAF?
VCTS indicates a thunderstorm (TS) in the vicinity (VC), which means from 5–10 mi (8–16 km). SN indicates snow is falling at a moderate intensity; a preceding plus or minus sign (+/-) indicates heavy or light precipitation.
What does distant mean on a METAR?
Weather phenomena beyond 10 statute miles of the point(s) of observation shall be coded as distant (DSNT) followed by the direction from the station.
Can lightning strike you from 10 miles away?
Lightning can travel 10 to 12 miles from a thunderstorm. This is often farther than the sound of thunder travels. That means that if you can hear thunder you are close enough to a storm to be in danger of being struck by lightning.
What distance is vicinity?
Vicinity means being near and not remote, but does not have to be adjacent. It does not include sites that are miles apart, but may include sites that are adjacent to each other, across the street from each other, or thousands of feet away from each other, but in the same general area or proximity. Sample 1.
What does vicinity mean TAF?
Annex 3, Appendix 3, 4.4. 2.6 gives the definition of ‘vicinity’, for local reports and METAR/SPECI purposes, as ‘between approximately 8 and 16 km of the aerodrome reference point…’ .
What are the 4 types of thunderstorms?
Although thunderstorms can vary in size and shape, we can classify them into four main groups: single cell, multi-cell clusters, multi-cell lines, and supercells.
What are the two types of thunderstorms?
Thunderstorm cells come in two basic flavors: ordinary cells and supercells. Ordinary cells are a few miles in diameter and exist for less than an hour, whereas supercells are larger and can last for several hours. The supercell thunderstorm is a single-cell storm that almost always produces dangerous weather.