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Decode the F6 Form

The following table will help to explain the data contained in each column of the monthly Preliminary Local Climatological Data or National Weather Service F6 form:

Column 1 Day The day of the month
Column 2 Max The day's high temperature
Column 3 Min The day's low temperature
Column 4 Avg The day's average temperature
Column 5 Dep The average temperature's departure from normal.
Column 6a HDD Heating Degree Days (65 - Avg = # of HDD).  Use when the average temperature is less than 65.
Column 6b CDD Cooling Degree Days (Avg - 65 = # of CDD).  Use when the average temperature is greater than 65.
Column 7 Wtr The water equivalent of the day's precipitation.
Column 8 Snw The day's snowfall.
Column 9 Dpth The depth of the snow, measured at 6 am cst, 7 am cdt.
Column 10 Avg The average wind speed in miles per hour.
Column 11 Spd The fastest 2 minute wind speed in mph.
Column 12 Dir The average direction of the wind speed, using 360 degrees of a compass.  90 is a wind from the east, 180 from the south, etc.
Column 13 Min The number of minutes of sunshine received during the day.
Column 14 Day The percentage of possible minutes of sunshine.
Column 15 S-S No longer used.
Column 16 Wx Weather (wx) codes for the day.  See list of codes on bottom of summary.
Column 17 Spd The highest wind gust for the day in mph.
Column 18 Dr The direction of the day's peak wind gust.

"M" appearing in a column indicates missing data


