TDC: Interpreting Wind Barbs
Winds are named for the direction from which they are coming (a northwest wind comes from the northwest), while wind symbols generally point in the direction the wind is moving.
When several different kinds of data are plotted on weather maps, each station is represented by a small circle and the data for that station are plotted on and around the circle. Winds are traditionally represented by "an arrow flying with the wind and ending on the station circle" (S. Petterson, Weather Analysis and Forecasting, 1940). The point of the arrow is invisible; only the feathers or barbs at the end are seen, and they are used to indicate the speed of the wind.
"Wind barbs", as they are sometimes called, can also be plotted without the station circle, as they are on the profiler plots presented here. The feathers and flags most often represent wind speed in knots, but sometimes other units are used; here, the winds are in m/s. Examples of wind barbs corresponding to various wind speeds are below:
Traditionally, the feathers point in a clockwise direction for Northern Hemisphere observations and in a counterclockwise direction for Southern Hemisphere observations.
REAL-TIME PACIFIC PROFILER DATA DISPLAY:
San Cristóbal (.90°S, 89.61°W)