Definition
The direction from which the wind is blowing, measured in degrees clockwise from true north rather than from magnetic north.
Plain English
The compass direction the wind is coming from, measured against the true north pole instead of the magnetic north pole.
Context Anchor
Seen in weather reports, flight planning, and wind correction calculations, especially when comparing reported wind with a compass heading or runway direction.
Derivation
‘True’ here means ‘referenced to the geographic (true) north pole.’ This is contrasted with ‘magnetic,’ which is referenced to the magnetic north pole. The two poles are not in the same place, so the same wind has slightly different numbers depending on which reference is used.
Why Pilots Care
True wind direction must be used with true course and true airspeed so navigation calculations remain accurate before magnetic variation is applied.
Intuition Check
“True” does not mean more accurate or better here; it means measured from true north. Wind direction is where the wind comes from, not where it is blowing to.
Example Sentence 1
The winds aloft forecast gave a true wind direction of 270 degrees, so the pilot converted it to magnetic before computing the heading.
Example Sentence 2
After converting the true wind direction to magnetic, the pilot compared it with the surface wind reported in the METAR.