Aviation Weather Handbook
The FAA's consolidated weather reference — atmosphere, weather systems, hazards like icing and thunderstorms, and how to read every weather product.
About this document
The Aviation Weather Handbook consolidates the FAA's weather guidance (formerly spread across AC 00-6 and AC 00-45) into one comprehensive reference. It supports the weather portions of every pilot knowledge test.
It covers the atmosphere and its properties, temperature, moisture and stability, clouds, air masses and fronts, and the major aviation weather hazards — thunderstorms, turbulence, icing, wind shear, fog, and mountain weather. It then explains the full catalog of weather products a pilot uses: observations (METARs, PIREPs, radar), forecasts (TAFs, area forecasts, prognostic charts), and graphical/online products.
Use it to understand what the weather is doing and how to decode the reports and forecasts you will rely on for every go/no-go decision.
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Take a free practice test →FAA-H-8083-28 is an official FAA publication in the public domain. We host a copy so you can read it in-browser; always confirm you are reading the current edition on faa.gov. The description above is an original summary and is a study aid, not a substitute for the document or the regulations.