My first time flying solo from start to finish. ATIS indicated calm winds on this morning. Right from the time I took off, the ball wouldn’t be centered and I didn’t realize there was a stiff crosswind from the south (my left). That unnerved me although you couldn’t tell from the video. My turns were shallow and the pattern was really wide. After just one lap around the airport, I pulled off and waited for a while near the fuel station. Thats when I saw that the windsock reflected a stiff wind. I was in half a mind whether to go back up and after a few minutes of reflection, decided to call it a day. This was the shortest duration I’ve flown so far.

ATIS is generally recorded once an hour and as was evident today, if the weather changes quickly then ATIS isn’t accurate. Also, ATIS reflects winds at the surface and the speeds above the surface can be quite different due to the lack of surface friction and other obstructions.