What Does WSHFT Mean in a METAR?
WSHFT means wind shift: the time the wind direction changed by 45° or more. It stands for Wind SHiFT.
WSHFT in a real report
WSHFT 1715 FROPA
That reads as wind shifted at 17:15 due to a frontal passage.
What it changes for you
A wind shift is a runway decision. The number after WSHFT is when it started,
so a shift twenty minutes ago and a shift two minutes ago mean very different
things about which runway is now into wind.
The formal threshold is a direction change of 45 degrees or more within less than 15 minutes, with sustained wind of 10 knots or more throughout.
What usually comes with it
A wind shift rarely arrives alone. Look for these in the same remarks section:
FROPAmeans the observer attributed the shift to a frontal passagePK WNDoften records a gust around the same timePRESRRorPRESFRshows the pressure responding to the same system
Together those turn a wind change into a picture of what moved through.
Related codes
Decode a report containing this code
Paste a METAR, TAF, PIREP or SIGMET into the WxDecoder decoder. Every group comes back in plain English. The raw code sits beside it, so you can check the decode rather than trust it.
Frequently asked questions
What does WSHFT mean in a METAR?
A wind shift. The wind direction changed by 45 degrees or more in under 15 minutes, with the wind at least 10 knots throughout. The four digits after it are the time the shift began, in UTC.
What does WSHFT FROPA mean together?
The wind shifted and the observer attributed it to a front passing the station. It is a stronger signal than either alone, because it says the change has a cause that will keep affecting conditions.