A wind sock at an airport indicates:

A wind sock is a direct visual reading of the wind at the field, and it gives two pieces of information at once. The small end points downwind, so the sock shows where the wind is going and by inference the direction it is coming from — the convention in aviation being to name winds by where they come from. The degree to which the sock is extended indicates speed: limp means light, partially lifted means moderate, and fully extended and horizontal means at or above roughly 15 knots depending on the sock's construction. That immediacy is why a wind sock remains useful to a remote pilot even with weather reports available, since the reported wind is from an observation point that may be some distance away and some minutes old, while the sock shows what is happening now where the aircraft will fly. Runway selection follows from the wind rather than being shown by the sock itself, which is the distinction the alternatives probe.

The sock's small end points downwind, indicating direction, and the degree of extension indicates speed — limp for light winds, fully horizontal for roughly 15 knots or more.

A wind sock indicates wind direction, with the small end pointing downwind, and approximate speed by its degree of extension. Winds are named by the direction they come from. Standard socks are fully extended at roughly 15 knots.

Small End Points Downwind, and how far it lifts tells you how hard it is blowing.

Winds are always named by their source. A sock pointing east means a westerly wind, which is how it will be reported.

• •Reading the sock as pointing into the wind
• •Naming the wind by the direction it is blowing toward
• •Trusting a distant reported wind over the sock at the site