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While I read some story I found two terms that confusing me: Bewölkt and bedeckt. Both of them are same to me, or I am wrong.

Is there any distinction?

Wrzlprmft
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veljasije
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    The German Wikipedia has a nice article on this. See the table at the right side of the page. – Hulk Aug 26 '14 at 13:18
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    related: http://german.stackexchange.com/questions/1201/gibt-es-einen-unterschied-zwischen-wolkig-und-bew%c3%b6lkt – Takkat Aug 26 '14 at 14:31

3 Answers3

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Bedeckt means that the whole sky is covered by clouds (there is a continuous layer of clouds without any significant gaps)

Bewölkt means that there are quite a lot of clouds, but the cover is not continuous

Hulk
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In meteorology, the amount of cloud cover (the fraction of the sky that is obscured by clouds) is usually given in eighths (octa or okta). According to Germany’s National Meteorological Service, the Deutscher Wetterdienst (DWD), the cloud cover is described as follows:

0/8 wolkenlos
1/8 sonnig
2/8 heiter
3/8 leicht bewölkt
4/8 wolkig
5/8 bewölkt
6/8 stark bewölkt
7/8 fast bedeckt
8/8 bedeckt

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Another explanation:

Bewölkt: I can see distinct clouds, with (more or less) defined shapes, sizes and borders.

Bedeckt: The whole sky looks like a grey veil (hence bedeckt - covered), I can't identify actual clouds i.e. it's impossible to say where one cloud would end and another one starts.

Saiph
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