METAR

METAR is a format for reporting weather information. A METAR weather report is predominantly used by aircraft pilots, and by meteorologists, who use aggregated METAR information to assist in weather forecasting.
Raw METAR is highly standardized through the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), which enables it to be understood throughout most of the world.
In its publication the Aeronautical Information Manual (AIM), the United States Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) describes the report as aviation routine weather report, while the international authority for the code form, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), describes it as the aerodrome routine meteorological report. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (part of the United States Department of Commerce) and the United Kingdom's Met Office both employ the definition used by the FAA. METAR is also known as Meteorological Terminal Aviation Routine Weather Report or Meteorological Aerodrome Report.
METARs typically come from airports or other permanent weather observation stations. Reports are generated once an hour or half-hour at most stations, but if conditions change significantly at a staffed location, a report known as a special (SPECI) may be issued. Some stations make regular reports more frequently, such as Pierce County Airport (ICAO code: KPLU) which issues reports three times per hour. In addition to METARs and SPECIs, ASOS One-Minute Observations (OMO) are updated once a minute. OMOs can be in various formats, including the METAR format.
Some METARs are encoded by automated airport weather stations located at airports, military bases, and other sites. Some locations still use augmented observations, which are recorded by digital sensors, encoded via software, and then reviewed by certified weather observers or forecasters prior to being transmitted. Observations may also be taken by trained observers or forecasters who manually observe and encode their observations prior to transmission. In the United States, prior to mid-1990s, most observations are made manually, but today the vast majority are automated or augmented observations.
The METAR format was introduced internationally on 1 January 1968, and has been modified a number of times since. North American countries continued to use a Surface Aviation Observation (SAO) for current weather conditions until 1 June 1996, when this report was replaced with an approved variant of the METAR agreed upon in a 1989 Geneva agreement. The WMO's publication No. 782 "Aerodrome Reports and Forecasts" contains the base METAR code as adopted by the WMO member countries.
A typical METAR contains data for the airport identifier, time of observation, wind direction and speed, visibility, current weather phenomena such as precipitation, cloud cover and heights, temperature, dew point, and barometric pressure. This information forms the body of the report, consisting a maximum of 11 groups of information. A METAR may also contain information on precipitation amounts, lightning, and other information that would be of interest to pilots or meteorologists such as a pilot report or PIREP, colour states and runway visual range (RVR). These may be provided in coded or plain language and appended to the end of the METAR as remarks.
In addition, a short period forecast called a TREND may be added at the end of the METAR covering likely changes in weather conditions in the two hours following the observation. These are in the same format as a Terminal Aerodrome Forecast (TAF).
The complement to METARs, reporting forecast weather rather than current weather, are TAFs. METARs and TAFs are used in VOLMET broadcasts.
Cloud coverage is reported by the number of "oktas" (eighths) of the sky that is occupied by cloud. Automated substation substitutes time averaging of sensor data gathered during 30-minute period prior to reporting.
This is reported as:
The following codes identify the cloud types used in the 8/nnn part of RMK.
Wind observation measures the horizontal vector component of the wind, which includes both direction and speed. These are determined by evaluating the measurement over a 2-minute period.
The wind direction is coded with the first three digits in tens of degrees relative to the true north. If wind speed is less than or equal to 6 kn (11 km/h; 6.9 mph), the wind direction will be displayed as variable or "VRB". If the wind speed is greater than 6 knots, but the direction varies more than 60° in the past 2 minutes, METAR will report the range of wind direction. For example, 21010KT 180V240 suggests the wind was variable from 180° to 240° at 10 knots.
Immediately after the wind direction is the wind speed, coded in two or three digits measured in knots, km/h or m/s. If during past 10 minutes, the weather station detects more than 10 kn (19 km/h; 12 mph) between minimum and maximum windspeed, METAR determines a wind gust exists and reports the maximum instantaneous windspeed.
If the air is motionless, the wind will be reported as calm and coded as 00000KT.
Visibility measures the atmospheric opacity. It is the greatest distance where at least half of the horizon circle can be seen from the surface.
Runway visual range (RVR) is an instrument-derived measurement that suggests the horizontal distance an observer may see down the runway. In the US, for stations with RVR reporting capacity, this information is omitted from the METAR unless the visibility is at or below 1 mi (1.6 km), or the designated instrument runway's RVR is at or below 6,000 ft (1,800 m). RVR of up to four designated runways may be reported, depending on the country.
METAR code is regulated by the World Meteorological Organization in consort with the International Civil Aviation Organization. In the United States, the code is given authority (with some US national differences from the WMO/ICAO model) under the Federal Meteorological Handbook No. 1 (FMH-1), which paved the way for the US Air Force Manual 15-111 on Surface Weather Observations, being the authoritative document for the US Armed Forces. A very similar code form to the METAR is the SPECI. Both codes are defined at the technical regulation level in WMO Technical Regulation No. 49, Vol II, which is copied over to the WMO Manual No. 306 and to ICAO Annex III.
Although the general format of METARs is a global standard, the specific fields used within that format vary somewhat between general international usage and usage within North America. Note that there may be minor differences between countries using the international codes as there are between those using the North American conventions — ICAO allows member countries to modify METAR code for use in their particular countries, as long as ICAO is notified.
The two examples which follow illustrate the primary differences between the international and the North American METAR variations.
The following is an example METAR from Burgas Airport in Burgas, Bulgaria. It was taken on 4 February 2005 at 16:00 Coordinated Universal Time (UTC).
METAR LBBG 041600Z 12012MPS 090V150 1400 R04/P1500N R22/P1500U +SN BKN022 OVC050 M04/M07 Q1020 NOSIG 8849//91=
North American METARs deviate from the WMO (who write the code on behalf of ICAO) FM 15-XII code. Details are listed in the FAA's Aeronautical Information Manual (AIM), but the non-compliant elements are mostly based on the use of non-standard units of measurement. This METAR example is from Trenton-Mercer Airport near Trenton, New Jersey, and was taken on 5 December 2003 at 18:53 UTC.
METAR KTTN 051853Z 04011KT 1/2SM VCTS SN FZFG BKN003 OVC010 M02/M02 A3006 RMK AO2 TSB40 SLP176 P0002 T10171017=
Note that what follows are not part of standard observations outside of the United States and can vary significantly.
In Canada, RMK is followed by a description of the cloud layers and opacities, in eighths (oktas). For example, CU5 would indicate a cumulus layer with 5⁄8 opacity.
METARs can be expressed concisely using so-called aviation flight categories, which indicates what classes of flight can operate at each airport by referring to the visibility and ceiling in each METAR. Four categories are used in the US:
METAR abbreviations used in the weather and events section. Remarks section will also include begin and end times of the weather events. Codes before remarks will be listed as "-RA" for "light rain". Codes listed after remarks may be listed as "RAB15E25" for "Rain began at 15 minutes after the top of the last hour and ended at 25 minutes after the top of the last hour."
Combinations of two precipitation types are accepted; e.g., RASN (rain and snow mixed), SHGSSN etc. If more than one type of weather is present, METAR will report in the following order:
The following METAR abbreviations are used in the United States; some are used worldwide:
METAR and TAF abbreviations and acronyms:
Additional METAR numeric codes listed after RMK.