Definition
Observable atmospheric events and conditions that affect flight, including precipitation, clouds, wind, fog, thunderstorms, icing, turbulence, and restrictions to visibility. In aviation weather reporting, weather phenomena are the specific events recorded and forecast in products such as METARs, TAFs, and SIGMETs.
Plain English
All the things the weather is actually doing — rain, snow, fog, wind, thunderstorms, ice, and so on — that a pilot needs to know about before and during a flight.
Context Anchor
Seen in instrument weather discussions when identifying conditions that may affect visibility, aircraft control, route choice, or the decision to continue a flight.
Derivation
Phenomena comes from the Greek phainomenon, meaning 'a thing appearing' or 'something observed.' In aviation weather, it keeps that sense — the things you can actually see and measure in the atmosphere, rather than the underlying causes.
Why Pilots Care
Recognizing specific weather phenomena allows pilots to anticipate hazards that can cause loss of control or spatial disorientation in instrument meteorological conditions.
Grounding Statement
If the air around the flight path is producing clouds, fog, wind, ice, rain, snow, or poor visibility, those are weather phenomena the pilot must account for.
Intuition Check
Do not read weather phenomena as only rare or dramatic weather. In aviation, it includes ordinary conditions like clouds, fog, wind, and rain whenever they affect the flight.
Example Sentence 1
Before departure, the pilot reviewed the forecast weather phenomena along the route, noting areas of expected icing and reduced visibility.
Example Sentence 2
Understanding common weather phenomena helps the instrument pilot decide whether to delay departure or request an alternate route.