Visibility
Also called prevailing visibility, visibility number
Station model. What an observer recorded, not a weather-app forecast.
Present weather and station modelsVisibility meaning
Visibility on a station model is the reported seeing distance, written as a number. It is not a fog icon and not a haze icon.
At a glance
- System
- NOAA station model
- Used for
- How far the station could see
- Not the same as
- A fog, mist, or haze icon
The reported seeing distance at the station. A number, not a forecast fog icon.
The name. Visibility on a station plot is a number, not a picture of an eye or a cloud.
Where it comes from
Station plots carry visibility as a figure, in miles on many United States maps, sometimes as a fraction. The drawing on this page is the fraction, so the page has a mark for a number. It is not a WMO pictogram of fog. Fog, mist, haze, smoke, and dust are reasons the number falls. The present-weather sign, if any, says which reason. The number says how far. A forecast fog icon says fog is expected. It does not replace the observation.
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
Read the digits. A small number is a restricted view, whatever the cause. MetService’s kilometre line for fog is a forecast-icon definition on another page. It is not printed on the station model as a universal law. If you need the cause, look for the present-weather sign. If it is absent, the plot is not naming one.
Questions
Where is visibility on a station plot?
It is a number, not an icon. The fraction drawn here stands for that reported figure. The sky circle and the present-weather sign do other jobs.
Does a low visibility number mean fog?
Not by itself. Fog, mist, haze, smoke, dust, and heavy precipitation can all cut the view. The present-weather sign is what names the cause, when one is plotted.
Near this
- FogA forecast icon for fog. Not mist, not haze, and not the fog character.
- MistA forecast icon for mist. Thinner than fog, and not drizzle.
- HazeA forecast icon for haze. Not fog, not mist, and not smoke.
- Station modelThe whole observation plot. Sky in the circle, wind on the barb, weather only if something is falling or the air is thick.
Sources
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.