KEST/EST METAR Estherville Municipal Airport

Estherville, IowaElevation 1,319 ftSmall airport

CURRENT STATUS

VFR10 min old

Ceiling 6,500 ft, visibility 10 SM.

FLIGHT CATEGORY

VFR

ceiling & visibility

WIND

030@10

steady

VISIBILITY

10 SM

16.1 km

CEILING

6,500 ft

lowest BKN/OVC

DENSITY ALT

199 ft

-1,120 ft vs field

CURRENT METAR

Decoded observation

Observed 0649Z (1:49 AM local) · 10 min old

KEST is currently VFR. Winds are from the northeast at 10 knots. Visibility is 10 statute miles. The ceiling is 6,500 feet AGL.

WIND

30° at 10 kt

Steady.

VISIBILITY

10 statute miles

16.1 km, good.

CEILING & SKY

Ceiling 6,500 ft

Lowest broken or overcast layer.

TEMP / DEWPOINT

7°C / 2°C

45°F / 36°F. 5°C spread.

ALTIMETER

30.40 inHg

1029.5 hPa, above standard.

WEATHER & HAZARDS

No significant hazards

No precipitation or obscuration reported.

Codes in this report: AUTO FEW BKN OVC RMK AO2

Hover or tap any group for a plain-English explanation.

REMARKS: DECODED

AO2

automated station with a precipitation discriminator (can tell rain from snow)

SLP302

sea-level pressure 1030.2 hPa

T00720022

precise temperature 7.2°C, dew point 2.2°C

FAA: no delays reported at EST.

Source: FAA System Operations (ASWS). Operational status only; verify with official FAA sources and NOTAMs.

SUGGESTED RISK · TRAINING USE

Suggested risk level: Low

›No TAF available for this airport.

A suggested risk level for training and situational awareness only, not a go/no-go authority. Verify with official sources and apply your personal minimums.

FORECAST & PILOT NOTES · SUPPLEMENTAL

Extended forecast and pilot notes

Current aviation conditions show flight category VFR, wind from 30° at 10 kt, visibility 10 SM, ceiling 6,500 ft. Forecast suggests monday rain showers, high near 53F, low near 45F, 87% chance of precipitation. Key risks: thunderstorms in the forecast. Note: the NWS forecast for now reads "Chance Rain Showers" but the current METAR shows none of it; the observation and forecast differ, so trust the METAR for current conditions.

PILOT WEATHER NOTES

Thunderstorms in the forecastWeather.gov

Wednesday: Partly Sunny then Chance Showers And Thunderstorms. Watch for developing convection and plan alternates.

Day	Conditions	Temp F	Wind	Gusts	Precip	Pilot note
Monday	Rain Showers	53/45	NE 11 kt	17 kt	87%
Tuesday	Partly Sunny	61/50	SW 10 kt	18 kt	4%
Wednesday	Partly Sunny then Chance Showers And Thunderstorms	71/49	S 12 kt	–	53%	Thunderstorms in the forecast
Thursday	Mostly Sunny	66/46	NNE 4 kt	–	18%
Friday	Chance Rain Showers	66/50	E 8 kt	–	54%
Saturday	Chance Rain Showers	65/49	SSE 9 kt	–	54%
Sunday	Slight Chance Rain Showers then Mostly Cloudy	63	SSW 7 kt	–	20%

Note: the NWS forecast for now reads "Chance Rain Showers" but the current METAR shows none of it; the observation and forecast differ, so trust the METAR for current conditions.

Source: National Weather Service (office DMX). Forecast issued 0658Z.

Radar

Radar data: NOAA/NWS MRMS composite reflectivity. For situational awareness only, not a substitute for an official weather briefing.

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RUNWAYS & WIND

2 runways · crosswind ranking

ON-FIELD METAR

READING THE BARB · SWIPE FOR MORE →

Calm

5 kt

10 kt

15 kt

20 kt

25 kt

30 kt

35 kt

40 kt

45 kt

50 kt

65 kt

75 kt

100 kt

105 kt

Half feather = 5 kt, full = 10 kt, filled pennant = 50 kt; add them up. The staff points the direction the wind blows from.

WIND USED

030° at 10 kt

Components computed from the current on-field METAR wind.

RECOMMENDED

RWY 348 kt headwind · 6 kt crosswind

RUNWAYS BY WIND · best end

HEAD

8 kt

CROSS

6 kt R

BEST

HEAD

7 kt

CROSS

7 kt L

HEAD

7 kt tail

CROSS

7 kt R

HEAD

8 kt tail

CROSS

6 kt L

Components are estimates from the current METAR wind and runway heading. Verify with the Chart Supplement and NOTAMs.

RUNWAYS

Runway detail & declared distances

2 runways · longest 4,797 ft

06/24

Dimensions

2,989 x 90 ft

Surface

Turf (fair)

RWY 0673°T

Traffic patternLeft

RWY 24253°T

Traffic patternLeft

16/34

Dimensions

4,797 x 75 ft

Surface

Concrete (good)

Edge lights

MED

RWY 16170°T

REILYes

VGSIPAPI (P4L)

Traffic patternLeft

RWY 34350°T

REILYes

VGSIPAPI (P4L)

Traffic patternLeft

Runway data from the FAA NASR dataset (effective 2026-06-11). Verify with the current Chart Supplement and NOTAMs.

FIELD CONDITIONS

Performance & density altitude

Density altitude

199 ft

Pressure altitude

839 ft

Field elevation

1,319 ft MSL

Temperature

7°C (45°F)

Dewpoint

2°C (36°F)

Altimeter

30.40 inHg

Density altitude estimates how the aircraft performs versus standard atmosphere. Higher density altitude reduces climb performance and increases takeoff distance.

DAYLIGHT & NIGHT

Sun & logging windows

Sunset

2320Z 6:20 PM

Sunrise

1246Z 7:46 AM

Loggable night

2349Z (6:49 PM local) → 1217Z (7:17 AM local)

end of evening to start of morning civil twilight

Position lights required

2320Z (6:20 PM local) → 1246Z (7:46 AM local)

sunset to sunrise (91.209)

Night passenger currency

0020Z (7:20 PM local) → 1146Z (6:46 AM local)

1 hr after sunset to 1 hr before sunrise (61.57(b))

FAA definitions, shown in Zulu with airport-local time. Verify for your operation.

AIRPORT INFORMATION

Facility & services

Estherville Municipal Airport is in Estherville, Iowa. Field elevation 1,319 ft MSL. Airport facts are drawn from OurAirports and the FAA NASR dataset.

OPERATIONS & CONTACT

OwnershipPublicly owned

UseOpen to the public

TypeSmall airport

ManagerMATT MCNAE

Manager phone712-362-2761

AttendedDaily, DAWN–DUSK

CHARTS & AIRSPACE

ICAO / IATAKEST / EST

SectionalOMAHA

Center (ARTCC)MINNEAPOLIS

Flight service (AFSS)FORT DODGE

RegionIowa

CountryUnited States

Coordinates43.4074, -94.7464

Distance from city4 NM E

SERVICES & LIGHTING

FuelJet A+

Control towerNon-towered

Field lightingSee remarks

BeaconSunset to sunrise · White-green (lighted land airport)

CTAF122.975

UNICOM122.975

FREQUENCIES

Communications

121.425

ASOS

127.75

MINNEAPOLIS CNTR

CNTR

122.8

CTAF/UNICOM

UNIC

122.975

CTAF

122.975

UNICOM

Not all tower/ground/approach frequencies are in our datasets. Verify with the FAA Chart Supplement.

AIRCRAFT ACTIVITY

KEST traffic patterns

2026-06-19 to 2026-09-11, 15 days observed · data 2026-10-23

Insufficient confidence

TRAFFIC VOLUME (30-DAY)

AVG LANDINGS/DAY

AVG OPS/DAY

Operations trend (4 days)

Busiest day: Tue · Busiest month: Jul

FLEET MIX

Piston single 93%Twin 7%

Mostly small piston aircraft.

TOP AIRCRAFT TYPES

›C172 (Piston single) · ~9 landings/mo

›M20P (Piston single) · ~1 landings/mo

›PA34 (Twin) · ~1 landings/mo

›C170 (Piston single) · ~0 landings/mo

LIKELY BASED AIRCRAFT

Low-confidence estimate

Aircraft likely based near this airport (estimate), mostly single-engine piston aircraft.

›C172 (Piston single)

This is an estimate based on repeated flight patterns, not registration data. Do not rely on it to identify specific aircraft or owners.

Data limitations (4)

›ADS-B coverage is incomplete; counts are an observed lower bound, not official totals.

›Some aircraft do not transmit usable ADS-B and are not counted.

›Aircraft types and based estimates are inferred and may be wrong.

›This is not official ATC, FAA, or airport data.

NEARBY AIRPORTS

Weather reference stations

Current flight category at nearby reporting stations.

KMJQ Jackson Municipal Airport

18 NM NW

VFR

KFRM Fairmont Municipal Airport

20 NM NE

VFR

KSPW Spencer Municipal Airport

25 NM SW

VFR

KAXA Algona Municipal Airport

29 NM SE

VFR

KMWM Windom Municipal Airport

34 NM NW

VFR

KOTG Worthington Municipal Airport

39 NM NW

VFR

AIRPORT REMARKS

Operational remarks

›IOWA LAKES AVIATION

›06/24 MARKED WITH YELLOW CONES.

›FOR CD CTC MINNEAPOLIS ARTCC AT 651-463-5588.

›REIL ARE OMNIDIRECTIONAL.

›FOR SERVICE AFTER HRS CALL 712-362-2761.

›RY 34 IS CALM WIND RY.

›ACTVT MIRL RY 16/34; REIL RYS 16 & 34; PAPI RYS 16 & 34 - CTAF.

OFFICIAL LINKS & SOURCES

↗Official METAR on AviationWeather.gov

↗Search NOTAMs (official FAA NOTAM Search)

↗Wikipedia

↗KEST on OurAirports

FREQUENTLY ASKED

Does KEST have a METAR?

Yes. KEST has a current METAR observation, decoded into plain English on this page.

Does KEST have a TAF?

When KEST issues a TAF, its decoded forecast timeline loads live on this page; otherwise use the nearest TAF-issuing field as a planning reference.

What is the field elevation at KEST?

KEST sits at 1,319 ft MSL, which factors into the density-altitude estimate on this page.

Is this an official preflight weather briefing for KEST?

No. wxdecoder.com is for education and situational awareness only. It is not an official weather briefing or a substitute for official sources, NOTAM review, and pilot judgment.

This app is for aviation weather education, training, and situational awareness only. It is not a substitute for an official weather briefing, approved flight-planning software, flight service, dispatch procedures, current FAA regulations, or pilot judgment. Always verify weather with official sources before flight.