Weather is one of the most common themes in the ICAO ELP — in picture tasks, ATC scenarios, and “tell me about a time…” questions. Having precise, ready vocabulary for weather and turbulence keeps you fluent when it comes up.
Core vocabulary you should own
- Turbulence: light, moderate, severe, extreme; “we encountered severe turbulence,” “the ride became bumpy.”
- Clouds & storms: cumulonimbus (CB), overcast, broken cloud, a line of thunderstorms, an active cell.
- Visibility: reduced visibility, fog, mist, haze, “visibility dropped below minimums.”
- Icing: airframe icing, carburettor icing, we selected anti-ice on.
- Wind: a strong crosswind, wind shear, a sudden gust, a tailwind on final.
A simple structure for a weather scenario
When you describe a weather event, move through three stages so your answer has shape:
- The situation: “During the descent we entered a large area of cumulonimbus cloud.”
- The effect: “The aircraft began to experience moderate to severe turbulence, and the ride became very rough for the passengers.”
- The action: “I requested a deviation from ATC, turned on the seatbelt signs, and reduced to turbulence penetration speed.”
Useful example sentences
“We were vectored around a line of thunderstorms because of the risk of severe turbulence and hail.”
“Wind shear on short final caused a sudden loss of airspeed, so we initiated a go-around.”
“Freezing rain led to airframe icing, and we requested a lower level with warmer air.”
Why this matters for your rating
Weather questions let the examiner rate your vocabulary and your ability to handle an operational problem in plain language. Vague answers (“it was bad weather”) give little to score; specific, structured answers show Level 5–6 control.
Practise it
Describe the weather on your last three flights out loud, using the three-stage structure. Then work through the ATC and picture scenarios in the Study Hub, and see how real candidates handled weather prompts in our exam reports.