CAVOK

An abbreviation for ceiling and visibility OK. It is pronounced “KAV-OH-KAY.” The term derives from the phrase “ceiling and visibility OK,” which may be used in air-ground communications when meteorological information is being transmitted to aircraft. The expression is used to describe the condition at the airfield when there are no clouds below 5000 ft or below the highest minimum sector altitude, whichever is greater, and no cumulonimbus; visibility is 6 miles or more, and there is no precipitation, thunderstorm, shallow fog, or low-drifting snow.

An Illustrated Dictionary of Aviation Copyright © 2005 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved