The preset cloud height varies depending on the type of preset,
so it doesn’t seem to be very helpful for checking cloud height before flying.
Is there another way? Winter is coming, and I don’t want to fly into icy clouds.
Depending on your location, clouds are measured at their bases as feet above mean sea level (MSL). You can tune the departing airport ATIS for local weather or check any of the many aviation weather sources to check cloud bases and coverage info for your planned route of flight or area.
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You can calculate the cloud base height using quick and simple formula.
For every point on Earth’s surface, we can calculate the corresponding cloud base where — theoretically — the formation of a cloud becomes possible.
The first thing you can estimate with this cloud base formula is the altitude at which clouds form. For that, you will need two measurements. (Available in the EFB for the specific airport ICAO):
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Air temperature - The temperature of the air, as measured with a regular thermometer.
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Dew point - The temperature at which water condensates, measured at the same elevation above sea level as the air temperature.
Apart from these two values, you should note down the elevation above sea level at which you took these measurements.
Once you have determined all of these values, the cloud altitude can be calculated according to the following formula:
cloud base = (temperature - dew point) / 4.4 × 1000 + elevation
In this formula, the temperature and dew point are expressed in degrees Fahrenheit, and the elevation and cloud base altitude are expressed in feet. If you want to use Celsius and meters, the equation looks like this:
cloud base = (temperature - dew point) / 10 × 1247 + elevation
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