Softonic

Crosswind Calculator

Step 1 / 3 Crosswind Calculator

Enter 1 to 36 for a runway number (27 means 270 degrees) or 37 to 360 for a heading in degrees. The letters L, R and C are ignored.

Next

A reported wind rarely blows straight down the runway. This calculator splits it into the part that pushes the aircraft sideways (crosswind) and the part that blows along the runway (headwind or tailwind). Enter the runway number or heading, the wind direction in degrees and the wind speed in knots; add the gust if the report has one. You get each component in knots, with the crosswind marked as coming from the left or the right.

How to calculate the crosswind

  1. 1

    Enter the runway and the wind

    Type the runway (27, 09L, or a heading such as 270), the direction the wind comes from in degrees, and the wind speed in knots.

  2. 2

    Add the gust if there is one

    Enter the gust speed from the report. Leave it empty for a steady wind. A gust cannot be lower than the wind speed.

  3. 3

    Read the components

    The result shows the crosswind from the left or right and the headwind or tailwind, for the steady wind and for the gust.

How the crosswind and headwind are worked out

The calculator takes the angle between the runway heading and the direction the wind comes from, then splits the wind speed with basic trigonometry:

  • crosswind = wind speed × sin(angle)
  • headwind = wind speed × cos(angle), and a negative value is a tailwind

The angle is the wind direction minus the runway heading, folded into the range -180° to 180°. A positive angle means the wind comes from the right of the nose, a negative angle from the left. Results are rounded to one decimal place.

Runway numbers and headings

A runway number is the magnetic heading divided by ten and rounded, so runway 27 points to about 270° and runway 09L to about 090°. The calculator multiplies a number from 1 to 36 by ten. A value from 37 to 360 is taken as a heading in degrees, so 270 and 27 give the same result. The letters L, R and C only tell parallel runways apart and are ignored.

Worked examples

Runway Wind Crosswind Headwind or tailwind
27 320° at 20 kt 15.3 kt from the right 12.9 kt headwind
27 220° at 20 kt 15.3 kt from the left 12.9 kt headwind
27 360° at 15 kt 15 kt from the right none
27 090° at 10 kt none 10 kt tailwind
36 300° at 30 kt 26 kt from the left 15 kt headwind

Practical notes

  • A wind 30° off the runway gives about half its speed as crosswind (sin 30° = 0.5), and 60° off gives about 87%.
  • A wind 90° off the runway is all crosswind, and a wind from behind the aircraft shows up as a tailwind.
  • Use the gust figure to see the worst case, not only the steady wind.
  • Wind from a METAR or an ATIS can be given relative to true or magnetic north. Check which one your source uses before comparing it with a magnetic runway heading.
  • This is a planning aid. Your aircraft’s limits, the runway condition and your operator’s rules decide whether a landing or takeoff is acceptable.

Frequently Asked Questions

Find the angle between the runway heading and the wind direction, then multiply the wind speed by the sine of that angle. For runway 27 (270°) and a wind from 320° at 20 knots, the angle is 50° and the crosswind is 20 × sin 50° = 15.3 knots.

Yes. Wind direction in reports is the direction the wind blows from, in degrees. A wind of 270° at 10 knots is a west wind, which blows straight down runway 27 as a headwind.

Yes. When the wind comes from behind the aircraft, the along-runway part is shown as a tailwind instead of a headwind. For example, runway 27 with a wind from 090° at 10 knots gives a 10-knot tailwind and no crosswind.

It repeats the same calculation with the gust speed, so you see the crosswind and headwind or tailwind in the strongest part of the wind as well as in the steady wind. The gust must be at least as high as the steady wind speed.

No. The runway and wind you type are sent to our server to work out the result, and they are added to the page link as you move between steps so a calculation can be bookmarked or shared. They are not saved to any account or profile.

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