Wind Direction Degrees to Cardinal

Wind direction: degrees to cardinal points

Wind direction is reported in degrees measured clockwise from true north, so 0° = N, 90° = E, 180° = S and 270° = W. One thing trips people up: by convention the value tells you where the wind is coming from, not where it's headed. An 8-point compass fills in the intercardinals at NE (45°), SE (135°), SW (225°) and NW (315°). Want finer resolution? The 16-point rose throws in NNE (22.5°), ENE (67.5°), ESE (112.5°), SSE (157.5°), SSW (202.5°), WSW (247.5°), WNW (292.5°) and NNW (337.5°). The conversion is just index = round(degrees / 22.5) mod 16. So 135° → SE, 200° → SSW, 350° → N. Aviation METAR reports round to 10° (for instance 27015KT means wind from 270° at 15 knots).

Applications

It shows up in meteorology and weather reports, in nautical and air navigation (METAR/TAF, charts), in aerospace and ballistics, in lining up wind turbine yaw, on the water during sailing and regattas, in agriculture when spraying pesticides, and in modelling how wildfires spread.

FAQ

Does the wind direction point to where it goes or where it comes from? Where it comes from. A "north wind" or "0°" blows from the north toward the south, which is the standard meteorological convention.

What is the difference between true north and magnetic north? True north is the geographic pole. Magnetic north drifts and sits off by the local declination, usually a few degrees that change with location and year. Aviation and surface weather both work from true north.

Why does METAR use 360° instead of 0° for north? It's a convention that keeps north from being confused with "calm" (00000KT). 360° means wind from due north, while 000 means no wind at all.