What does METAR stand for?

Meteorological Aerodrome Report (or Meteorological Terminal Air Report in some regions). It is the standard format for routine surface weather observations at airports worldwide.

How often are METARs updated?

In the US, routine METARs are issued hourly, usually observed between 51 and 59 minutes past the hour. Many airports elsewhere report every 30 minutes instead. A SPECI is a special observation issued any time conditions change significantly - e.g. a rapid drop in visibility or a new thunderstorm.

What are the VFR and IFR category thresholds?

VFR: visibility above 5 SM and ceiling above 3,000 ft. MVFR: 3-5 SM or 1,000-3,000 ft. IFR: 1-3 SM or 500-1,000 ft. LIFR: below 1 SM or below 500 ft.

Weather Tool

METAR Decoder

Paste any raw METAR string and get an instant plain-English breakdown of wind, visibility, cloud layers, temperature, and altimeter setting with flight category.

CalculatorInteractive

Decoded

Enter a valid METAR string to decode.

VFR: >5 SM visibility, ceiling >3,000 ft. MVFR: 3-5 SM or 1,000-3,000 ft. IFR: 1-3 SM or 500-1,000 ft. LIFR: <1 SM or <500 ft.

How to Use & Reference

About

Decodes any standard METAR into plain-English fields and determines the flight category (VFR, MVFR, IFR, or LIFR). A METAR always appears in the same field order - once you learn the pattern you can read any report worldwide without a decoder. Fields: station, time, wind, visibility, present weather, cloud layers, temperature/dewpoint, altimeter.

How to Use

1Paste a raw METAR string into the text area - the sample METAR is pre-loaded so you can see it working immediately.
2The flight category badge updates instantly - VFR (green), MVFR (blue), IFR (red), or LIFR (pink).
3Each decoded field shows the plain-English value on the left and the raw METAR token on the right.
4Retrieve live METARs from aviationweather.gov, ATIS, or your sim's weather system.

Tips

CAVOK means Ceiling And Visibility OK - visibility 10 km or more, no cloud below 5,000 ft (or the highest minimum sector altitude, whichever is greater), no CB or TCU, and no significant weather. It is not used in the US.
Cloud height in METAR is given in hundreds of feet AGL. BKN040 = broken at 4,000 ft.
A wind group of VRB03KT means variable direction at 3 kts - too light to have a meaningful direction.
The M prefix before temperature means below zero. M03 = -3°C.
Altimeter A2992 is in inHg (US format). Q1013 is in hPa - standard outside the US and Canada.

FAQ

What does METAR stand for?: Meteorological Aerodrome Report (or Meteorological Terminal Air Report in some regions). It is the standard format for routine surface weather observations at airports worldwide.
How often are METARs updated?: In the US, routine METARs are issued hourly, usually observed between 51 and 59 minutes past the hour. Many airports elsewhere report every 30 minutes instead. A SPECI is a special observation issued any time conditions change significantly - e.g. a rapid drop in visibility or a new thunderstorm.
What are the VFR and IFR category thresholds?: VFR: visibility above 5 SM and ceiling above 3,000 ft. MVFR: 3-5 SM or 1,000-3,000 ft. IFR: 1-3 SM or 500-1,000 ft. LIFR: below 1 SM or below 500 ft.