Westnorthwest

Westnorthwest, usually written as west-northwest and abbreviated WNW, is a compass direction located between west (270°) and northwest (315°). On a 16-point compass it is the second point from west toward the northwest and corresponds to a bearing of 292.5° clockwise from true north.

The term derives from combining the directions west and north, signaling a direction that is more southerly than northwest but more northerly than west. While west-northwest is the standard name, variants such as hyphenated “west-northwest” are common in records and maps. The abbreviation WNW is widely used in navigation, meteorology, aviation, and cartography.

In practical use, WNW can be represented either as a compass point or as a specific bearing. Heads or headings can be given as 292.5°, or simply as WNW on charts and instruments. Wind directions labeled as from the west-northwest indicate a wind origin of 292.5° relative to true north. In modern navigation, degrees are often emphasized, but the compass point remains a convenient shorthand in descriptive text.

West-northwest is one of the 16 principal winds of the traditional compass and is sometimes included in extended 32-point schemes with additional subdivisions for greater precision. While more granular directional terms exist in specialized systems, WNW remains a standard reference for describing headings and wind directions in many fields.