Using Barbs

Barbs show the direction and speed of the wind at a given location. Barbs can indicate trends such as fronts.

To read a barb, start at the tail (the end with stems or flags) of the barb and move to the tip. This is the direction the wind is coming from. In the example to the left, the wind is from the southeast. To get the wind speed, add all the stems and flags. In most cases, a short stem represents 5 units, a long stem represents 10 units, and a flag indicates 50 units. Two long stems and a short stem would be 25 units. In the example to the left, the winds are 65 units. See the table below for specific information on wind barb interpretation.

To create a new barb:

Choose Product > New > Barb...
Select the data set you want to use from the drop-down menu
Select the variable you want to use from the drop-down menu
Select the units you want to use from the drop-down menu
Click OK

Optional Settings:

Change the color of the barb by clicking the color well
Change the size of the barb using the slider

	m/s	mph	km/h	knots
Wind Barb Interpretation
short stem	2.5	5.0	5.0	5.0
long stem	5.0	10.0	10.0	10.0
flag	25.0	50.0	50.0	50.0
m/s = meters per second mph = miles per hour km/h = kilometers per hour knots = nautical mile per hour (equal to 1.15 miles per hour or 0.5144 meters per second)