1. “SKC”  will be reported at manual stations. “CLR”  will be used at automated stations when no clouds below 12,000 feet are reported. 2. A  ceiling layer is not designated in the METAR code. For aviation purposes, the ceiling is the lowest broken or overcast layer, or vertical visibility into an obscuration. Also there is no provision for reporting thin layers in the METAR code. When clouds are thin, that layer must be reported as if it were opaque. (b) Height. Cloud bases are reported with three digits in hundreds of feet above ground level (AGL). (Clouds above 12,000 feet cannot be reported by an automated station). (c) (Type). If Towering Cumulus Clouds (TCU) or Cumulonimbus Clouds (CB) are present, they are reported after the height which represents their base. (Reported as) SCT025TCU BKN080 BKN250 (spoken as) “TWO THOUSAND FIVE HUNDRED SCATTERED TOWERING CUMULUS, CEILING EIGHT THOUSAND BROKEN, TWO FIVE THOUSAND BROKEN.” (Reported as) SCT008 OVC012CB (spoken as) “EIGHT HUNDRED SCATTERED CEILING ONE THOUSAND TWO HUNDRED OVERCAST CUMULONIMBUS CLOUDS.” (d) Vertical Visibility (indefinite ceiling height). The height into an indefinite ceiling is preceded by “VV” and followed by three digits indicating the vertical visibility in hundreds of feet. This layer indicates total obscuration. $^{1}$/$_{8}$ SM FG VV006  −  visibility one eighth, fog, indefinite ceiling six hundred. (i) Variable cloud layer. When a layer is varying in sky cover, remarks will show the variability range. If there is more than one cloud layer, the variable layer will be identified by including the layer height. (h) Second site sensor. When an automated station uses meteorological discontinuity sensors, remarks will be shown to identify site specific sky conditions which differ and are lower than conditions reported in the body. (g) Variable ceiling. When a ceiling is below three thousand and is variable, the remark “CIG” will be shown followed with the lowest and highest ceiling heights separated by a “V.” (f) When sky conditions include a layer aloft, other than clouds, such as smoke or haze the type of phenomena, sky cover and height are shown in remarks. (e) Obscurations  are reported when the sky is partially obscured by a ground − based phenomena by indicating the amount of obscuration as FEW, SCT, BKN followed by three zeros (000). In remarks, the obscuring phenomenon precedes the amount of obscuration and three zeros. SKC FEW > 0 to $^{2}$/$_{8}$ ........ SCT scattered ($^{3}$/$_{8s}$ to $^{4}$/$_{8s}$ of ......... clouds) BKN broken ($^{5}$/$_{8s}$ to $^{7}$/$_{8s}$ of clouds) ......... OVC overcast ($^{8}$/$_{8s}$ clouds) CB Cumulonimbus when present .......... TCU Towering cumulus when ......... present BKN000 (in body) “sky partially obscured” ........ FU BKN000 (in remarks) “smoke obscuring five − ... to seven − eighths of the sky” BKN020 (in body) “ceiling two thousand ........ broken” RMK FU BKN020 “broken layer of smoke ........ aloft, based at  two thousand” CIG 005V010 “ceiling variable  ............ between five hundred and one thousand” CIG 020 RY11 “ceiling two thousand at  ........... runway one one” SCT V BKN “scattered  layer variable to ............. broken” BKN025 V OVC  “broken layer at  ......... two thousand five hundred variable to overcast” (a) Amount. The amount of sky cover is reported in eighths of sky cover, using the contractions: SKC clear (no clouds) ......... 8/15/19 3/15/07 1/30/20 AIM  7110.65R CHG 2 AIM EXAMPLE − EXAMPLE − NOTE − EXAMPLE − EXAMPLE − EXAMPLE − EXAMPLE − EXAMPLE − Meteorology 7 − 1 − 64