KOLU/OLU METAR Columbus Municipal Airport

Columbus, NebraskaElevation 1,447 ftMedium airport

CURRENT STATUS

MVFR16 min old

Ceiling 1,700 ft, visibility 10 SM, rain.

FLIGHT CATEGORY

MVFR

ceiling & visibility

WIND

120@3

steady

VISIBILITY

10 SM

16.1 km

CEILING

1,700 ft

lowest BKN/OVC

DENSITY ALT

1,231 ft

-216 ft vs field

CURRENT METAR

Decoded observation

Observed 0313Z (10:13 PM local) · 16 min old

KOLU is currently MVFR. Winds are from the southeast at 3 knots. Visibility is 10 statute miles. The ceiling is 1,700 feet AGL. Reported weather: light rain. The main issue is ceiling 1700 ft agl (mvfr).

WIND

120° at 3 kt

Steady.

VISIBILITY

10 statute miles

16.1 km, good.

CEILING & SKY

Ceiling 1,700 ft

Lowest broken or overcast layer.

TEMP / DEWPOINT

12°C / 12°C

54°F / 54°F. 0°C spread.

ALTIMETER

30.12 inHg

1020 hPa, above standard.

WEATHER & HAZARDS

RA, LOW CIG

Rain reported.

Codes in this report: AUTO 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)

RAB09

rain began at :09 past the hour

P0000

0.00 inches of precipitation in the last hour

FAA: no delays reported at OLU.

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

SUGGESTED RISK · TRAINING USE

Suggested risk level: Moderate

›Conditions are MVFR.

›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 MVFR, wind from 120° at 3 kt, visibility 10 SM, ceiling 1,700 ft. Forecast suggests tonight chance rain showers, low near 40F, 26% chance of precipitation. Key risks: thunderstorms in the forecast.

PILOT WEATHER NOTES

Thunderstorms in the forecastWeather.gov

Friday: Showers And Thunderstorms Likely. Watch for developing convection and plan alternates.

Day	Conditions	Temp F	Wind	Gusts	Precip	Pilot note
Tonight	Chance Rain Showers	40	NW 6 kt	–	26%
Tuesday	Mostly Cloudy	61/51	W 7 kt	–	20%
Wednesday	Slight Chance Rain Showers	72/47	S 11 kt	19 kt	18%
Thursday	Mostly Sunny	69/51	NE 6 kt	–	29%
Friday	Showers And Thunderstorms Likely	71/53	SE 7 kt	14 kt	63%	Thunderstorms in the forecast
Saturday	Chance Showers And Thunderstorms	68/51	S 7 kt	14 kt	42%
Sunday	Partly Sunny then Slight Chance Rain Showers	67/49	S 7 kt	–	51%
Monday	Rain Showers Likely	64	N 12 kt	22 kt	61%

Source: National Weather Service (office OAX). Forecast issued 0329Z.

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

120° at 3 kt

Components computed from the current on-field METAR wind.

RECOMMENDED

RWY 143 kt headwind · 1 kt crosswind

RUNWAYS BY WIND · best end

HEAD

3 kt

CROSS

1 kt L

BEST

HEAD

0 kt

CROSS

3 kt R

HEAD

0 kt

CROSS

3 kt L

HEAD

3 kt tail

CROSS

1 kt R

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 6,801 ft

02/20

Dimensions

4,135 x 150 ft

Surface

Turf (fair)

RWY 0230°T

Displaced threshold101 ft

RWY 20210°T

14/32

Dimensions

6,801 x 100 ft

Surface

Concrete (good)

Edge lights

MED

RWY 14150°T

Landing length (LDA)6,260 ft

TORA / TODA / ASDA6,800 / 6,800 / 6,260 ft

ILSLOCALIZER

Approach lightsMALSR

VGSIPAPI (P4L)

Traffic patternLeft

RWY 32330°T

Landing length (LDA)5,850 ft

TORA / TODA / ASDA6,800 / 6,800 / 6,800 ft

Displaced threshold950 ft

REILYes

VGSIVASI (V4L)

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

1,231 ft

Pressure altitude

1,247 ft

Field elevation

1,447 ft MSL

Temperature

12°C (54°F)

Dewpoint

12°C (54°F)

Altimeter

30.12 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

2332Z 6:32 PM

Sunrise

1254Z 7:54 AM

Loggable night

0000Z (7:00 PM local) → 1226Z (7:26 AM local)

end of evening to start of morning civil twilight

Position lights required

2332Z (6:32 PM local) → 1254Z (7:54 AM local)

sunset to sunrise (91.209)

Night passenger currency

0032Z (7:32 PM local) → 1154Z (6:54 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

Columbus Municipal Airport is in Columbus, Nebraska. Field elevation 1,447 ft MSL. Airport facts are drawn from OurAirports and the FAA NASR dataset.

OPERATIONS & CONTACT

OwnershipPublicly owned

UseOpen to the public

TypeMedium airport

ManagerROSS NIEDBALSKI

Manager phone402-276-5284

AttendedDaily, DALGT

CHARTS & AIRSPACE

ICAO / IATAKOLU / OLU

SectionalOMAHA

Center (ARTCC)MINNEAPOLIS

Flight service (AFSS)COLUMBUS

RegionNebraska

CountryUnited States

Coordinates41.4481, -97.3402

Distance from city1 NM NE

SERVICES & LIGHTING

Fuel100LL · Jet A

Control towerNon-towered

Field lightingSee remarks

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

CTAF123.050

UNICOM123.050

FREQUENCIES

Communications

125.525

AWOS 3

AWOS

128.75

MINNEAPOLIS CNTR

CNTR

123.05

CTAF/UNICOM

CTAF

122.2

RDO

123.050

UNICOM

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

AIRCRAFT ACTIVITY

KOLU traffic patterns

2026-06-15 to 2026-09-10, 9 days observed · data 2026-10-25

Insufficient confidence

TRAFFIC VOLUME (30-DAY)

AVG LANDINGS/DAY

AVG OPS/DAY

1.7

Operations trend (3 days)

Busiest day: Thu · Busiest month: Jun

FLEET MIX

Piston single 31%Turboprop 25%Unknown 19%Jet 13%Helicopter 13%

Mostly small piston aircraft.

TOP AIRCRAFT TYPES

›P28A (Piston single) · ~2 landings/mo

›C25A (Jet) · ~1 landings/mo

›EC30 (Helicopter) · ~1 landings/mo

›TBM7 (Turboprop) · ~1 landings/mo

›TBM8 (Turboprop) · ~1 landings/mo

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.

KOFK Karl Stefan Memorial Airport

33 NM N

LIFR

KFET Fremont Municipal Airport

37 NM E

VFR

KLNK Lincoln Airport

45 NM SE

VFR

KLCG Wayne Municipal Airport / Stan Morris Field

50 NM N

LIFR

KGRI Central Nebraska Regional Airport

IFR

AIRPORT REMARKS

Operational remarks

›ACTVT MIRL RY 14/32; PAPI RY 14; VASI RY 32; REIL RY 32 & MALSR RY 14 - CTAF.

›RY 02/20 NOT PLOWED WINTER MONTHS.

›RWY 32 CLNC SLOPE 37:1 TO DSPLCD THR.

›FOR FUEL AFT HRS CONTACT 402-910-5246.

›WATERFOWL INVOF ARPT.

›DEER INVOF ARPT.

›FOR SVC AFT DARK CALL (402) 564-7884.

›RWY 02 END CONES MARK DSPLCD THLD; NOT RWY END.

›RY 32 IS DESIGNATED AS THE CALM WIND RY.

›JANELLE KLINE, CITY CLERK

›BOUNDARY MARKERS-G.

›FOR CD IF UNA TO CTC ON FSS FREQ, CTC MINNEAPOLIS ARTCC AT 651-463-5588.

›RWY 02 CLNC SLOPE 30:1 DUE TO GRAIN ELEVATOR LEG 116 FT ABV RWY END 3491 FT FROM DSPLCD THLD; RWY 20 CTR PIVOT THRU APCH DURING IRRIGATION SEASON.

OFFICIAL LINKS & SOURCES

↗Official METAR on AviationWeather.gov

↗Search NOTAMs (official FAA NOTAM Search)

↗Wikipedia

↗KOLU on OurAirports

FREQUENTLY ASKED

Does KOLU have a METAR?

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

Does KOLU have a TAF?

When KOLU 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 KOLU?

KOLU sits at 1,447 ft MSL, which factors into the density-altitude estimate on this page.

Is this an official preflight weather briefing for KOLU?

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.