Definition
A sky condition reported in a METAR indicating that the entire sky is covered by clouds at the reported height, with no breaks. Reported when 8/8 (eight oktas) of the sky is obscured by a cloud layer.
Plain English
The whole sky is covered in cloud — no gaps, no patches of blue.
Context Anchor
Seen in METAR aviation weather reports in the sky condition section, such as OVC012.
Derivation
From the older English 'overcast,' meaning 'cast over' or 'covered over.' The aviation use keeps the everyday sense — the sky is completely covered by cloud.
Why Pilots Care
Tells the pilot the ceiling is solid, so visual flight may be impossible and instrument procedures or alternate planning will be required.
Intuition Check
OVC does not just mean “cloudy.” It means the reported cloud layer covers the entire sky, not just most of it.
Example Sentence 1
The METAR reported OVC008, so the ceiling was 800 feet and the flight had to be conducted IFR.
Example Sentence 2
With OVC reported below the minimum vectoring altitude, the approach controller issued vectors for the ILS.