A METAR is an observation of current surface weather reported in a standard international format. Pilots read it left to right: station, time, wind, visibility, weather, clouds, temperature, pressure and remarks.
This guide decodes the FAA's own example one group at a time, then shows the quick rule for telling VFR from IFR.
The FAA's Pilot's Handbook of Aeronautical Knowledge uses this METAR:
METAR KGGG 161753Z AUTO 14021G26KT 3/4SM +TSRA BR BKN008 OVC012CB 18/17 A2970 RMK PRESFR
The groups always come in the same order, so once you know them you can read any METAR.
| Group | Reads as | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| METAR | Type of report | A routine report on a regular schedule. A SPECI is a special report issued when conditions change quickly. |
| KGGG | Station identifier | Gregg County Airport, Longview, Texas. In the 48 contiguous states, the code is a K plus the three-letter airport identifier. |
| 161753Z | Date and time | The 16th day of the month, 17:53 UTC. The Z means Zulu, or UTC. |
| AUTO | Modifier | The report came from an automated source. COR means a corrected report. |
| 14021G26KT | Wind | Wind from 140 degrees true at 21 knots, gusting to 26 knots. |
| 3/4SM | Visibility | Prevailing visibility of three quarters of a statute mile. |
| +TSRA | Weather | Heavy thunderstorm with rain. The plus sign means heavy, TS is thunderstorm and RA is rain. |
| BR | Weather | Mist. |
| BKN008 | Sky condition | Broken clouds with bases at 800 feet above ground level. |
| OVC012CB | Sky condition | Overcast at 1,200 feet, with cumulonimbus clouds. |
| 18/17 | Temperature and dew point | Air temperature 18 degrees Celsius, dew point 17. |
| A2970 | Altimeter setting | 29.70 inches of mercury. |
| RMK PRESFR | Remarks | Remarks follow RMK. PRESFR indicates the pressure is falling. |
The first three digits are the direction the wind is blowing from, in tens of degrees. The last two are the speed in knots. A G means gusts, followed by the peak gust. If the wind is variable, it is reported as VRB. Winds above 99 knots use three digits.
Prevailing visibility is in statute miles with the letters SM. Runway visual range, when reported, appears after it. For example, R17L/1400FT means a visual range of 1,400 feet on runway 17 left.
The weather group is built in order: intensity or proximity, descriptor, then the phenomenon. A minus sign is light, no sign is moderate and a plus is heavy. VC means in the vicinity of the airport, five to ten miles away. Heavy rain showers are written +SHRA.
Each layer is written as amount, height and type. The height is three digits in hundreds of feet above ground level, so BKN008 is 800 feet. The amounts are in eighths of the sky.
| Code | Meaning | Coverage |
|---|---|---|
| SKC or CLR | Clear | No clouds |
| FEW | Few | 1 to 2 eighths |
| SCT | Scattered | 3 to 4 eighths |
| BKN | Broken | 5 to 7 eighths |
| OVC | Overcast | 8 eighths |
Both are in degrees Celsius. A temperature below zero is written with an M in front, so M02 means minus 2. When the two numbers are close, fog or low cloud is more likely.
The altimeter setting is four digits after an A, in inches of mercury, so A2970 is 29.70. Pilots set it on the altimeter. See our guide to the six-pack for what the altimeter does.
Pilots sort a METAR into a flight category. The usual definitions use the lowest ceiling (broken or overcast layer) and the visibility.
| Category | Ceiling | Visibility |
|---|---|---|
| VFR | Greater than 3,000 feet | Greater than 5 miles |
| MVFR (marginal) | 1,000 to 3,000 feet | 3 to 5 miles |
| IFR | 500 to under 1,000 feet | 1 to under 3 miles |
| LIFR (low IFR) | Under 500 feet | Under 1 mile |
In the example, the ceiling is 800 feet and visibility is three quarters of a mile. That is low IFR, with thunderstorms.
Pilots get METARs from the Aviation Weather Center, flight service briefings and apps. For airport-by-airport weather history, see our airport weather hub.
A METAR looks like code, but it follows one fixed order. Learn the order, practice on real reports, and you can read the weather at any airport in a few seconds. Pair it with a PIREP for what pilots are seeing in the air.
To see how those flight categories add up over a year, our ATL airport weather and SEA airport weather pages sort every hourly report since 2000 into VFR, marginal VFR and IFR. Atlanta is VFR for 81.2% of hours and Seattle for 73.4%. At the other extreme, Phoenix and Las Vegas are VFR for 99.4% of hours.
It is the aviation routine weather report, a standard coded format for surface weather observations.
Zulu time, which is UTC. The time in a METAR is always UTC, not local time.
A special METAR issued at any time between routine reports when conditions change quickly or in other critical situations.
Each layer is amount, height and type. BKN008 means broken clouds at 800 feet above ground level, and a CB after the height means cumulonimbus.
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