Gray - Portland, ME

Weather Forecast Office

About the F6 Form

About the F6 Form

The Weather Service Form F-6 is used by reporting stations to record their unofficial daily climate data for the month. The daily data from the form is then used to calculate sums, means and departures for the month. The F6 is then sent to the National Centers for Environmental Information in Asheville, North Carolina for archiving, additional quality control, and official notation.

The following is a brief description of each column of the WS Form F-6:

TEMPERATURE

Max (Maximum): The high temperature for the day from midnight to midnight standard time

Min (Minimum): The low temperature for the day from midnight to midnight standard time

Mn (Mean): The mean temperature for the day from midnight to midnight, or the average of the Max and Min temperatures

Dep (Departure): The difference between the Mean for the day and the normal Mean for that date

DEGREE DAYS

Htg (Heating Degree Days): The difference between the Mean for the day and 65 degrees, when the Mean is below 65 degrees

Clg (Cooling Degree Days): The difference between the Mean for the day and 65 degrees, when the Mean is above 65 degrees

PRECIPITATION

Total: The liquid equivalent amount of all precipitation for the day from midnight to midnight, including rain, snow, sleet, freezing rain, hail, etc.

Snow: The total amount of precipitation from midnight to midnight made up of frozen or freezing precipitation

Depth: The depth of snow on the ground at 7 am standard time

WIND

Avg (Average): The average sustained, or two-minute average, wind for the day from midnight to midnight

Fast (Fastest): The speed of the fastest individual sustained, or two-minute average, wind for the day from midnight to midnight

Dir (Direction): The direction of the fastest sustained wind, in degrees on the compass

SUNSHINE

Mins (Minutes): The total number of minutes of sunshine for the day from sunrise to sunset

%Pos (Percent of Possible): The percent of possible sunshine for the day

WEATHER

Occur (Occurrences): See the chart at the bottom of the form for definitions of symbols

PEAK WIND

Spd (Speed): The speed of the peak gust of wind for the day from midnight to midnight

Dir (Direction): The direction of the peak wind gust, in degrees on the compass

MISCELLANEOUS

Fast (Fastest): The highest sustained wind for the month

Dir (Direction): The direction of the highest sustained wind

Poss (Possible): The most number of minutes of sunshine possible for the month

Prct (Percent): The percentage of possible sunshine received for the month, or the total minutes (Mins) divided by the possible minutes (Poss ) times 100

Spd (Speed): The peak gust of wind for the month

Dir (Direction): The direction of the peak gust