Station model
Also called station plot, surface observation, station circle
Station model. What an observer recorded, not a weather-app forecast.
Present weather and station modelsStation model meaning
A station model is a compact plot of one observation, not a forecast icon. Sky cover, wind, pressure, and present weather share the circle.
At a glance
- System
- NOAA station model
- Used for
- One place, one time
- Not the same as
- A forecast icon or a weather-map front
The whole observation plot. Sky in the circle, wind on the barb, weather only if something is falling or the air is thick.
The name. A station model is one plot: sky, wind, pressure, and present weather, from one place and time.
Where it comes from
Weather Prediction Center teaching pages put sky cover in the station circle and wind on a barb that points to where the wind comes from. A present-weather sign is plotted only when precipitation is falling or visibility is reduced. Sea-level pressure is a three-digit code in tenths of a millibar, with the leading 10 or 9 left off: 410 is 1041.0, 103 is 1010.3, 987 is 998.7, and 872 is 987.2. Temperature, dew point, and a pressure-tendency mark complete the usual plot. NOAA JetStream uses the same plot as the raw material of a surface map.
The line drawing is original to this cabinet. It is not an agency logo, a vendor icon, or the emoji for the same idea.
Weather
What it means
Every piece is a measurement or a coded observation at one station. Nothing in the cluster is a promise about the next hour. A phone’s rain icon can sit over the same city and still be a different sentence. Read the circle for the sky, the barb for the wind, the three digits for pressure, and the side mark only if weather was occurring.
Variants
What is left off
If the air is clear and nothing is falling, there is no present-weather symbol. An empty side is a report, not a missing icon.
Worth knowing
- On the Weather Prediction Center’s station plot, 410 means 1041.0 millibars and 872 means 987.2. Source
Questions
What does a weather station model show?
Sky cover, wind direction and speed, temperature, dew point, sea-level pressure, the pressure tendency, and present weather when precipitation or reduced visibility is occurring. It reports the past observation, not a forecast.
How do you read the pressure number?
The Weather Prediction Center prints sea-level pressure as three digits in tenths of a millibar, dropping the leading 10 or 9. 410 means 1041.0, 103 means 1010.3, 987 means 998.7, and 872 means 987.2.
Why is there no weather icon on some plots?
Present weather is plotted only when something is falling or the view is restricted. A clear, unlimited station has a circle and a barb and no side symbol.
Near this
- Present weatherThe sign plotted beside a station when weather is occurring. Not a forecast icon, and not all one hundred codes.
- Sky coverThe filled circle on a station model. More ink means more of the sky was covered.
- Wind barbStaff, barbs, and pennants: where the wind came from, and how fast. Not a forecast wind icon.
- Pressure tendencyHow pressure changed in the last three hours. Not the sea-level pressure code, and not a front.
Sources
- Weather Prediction Center, station plot
- Weather Prediction Center, surface weather symbols
- NOAA JetStream, station models
- National Weather Service, wind barbs
Named when the entry depends on a text, a date, or a standard. Catalog numbers are not invented.
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symbol.wiki, edited as Sigilla. Last reviewed 18 October 2026. A reading of public tradition, not a ruling.