If the shape is completely filled in, it is overcast. If conditions are completely clear, the circle or triangle is empty. If conditions are partly cloudy, the circle or triangle is partially filled in.^[3] The cloud cover shape has different looks depending upon how many oktas (eighths of the sky) are covered by cloud. A sky half full of clouds would have a circle that was half white and half black. Below the shape indicating sky cover, the station model can indicate the coverage of low clouds, in oktas, and the ceiling height in hundreds of feet. The ceiling height is the height at which more than half the sky is covered by clouds.

For pilots, knowledge of the sky cover helps determine if visual flight rules (VFR) are being met. Knowing the degree of cloud cover can help determine whether or not various weather fronts, such as cold fronts or warm fronts, have passed by a location. A nephanalysis, contouring areas that are cloudy with scalloped lines, can be performed to indicate a system's cloud and precipitation pattern.^[11] This technique is rarely performed nowadays, due to the prevalence of satellite imagery worldwide.^[12]