METAR Decoder
Paste a raw METAR or type an airport code. Decoded as you type, free, no signup.
Accepts a raw METAR, a SPECI, an ICAO code like KDFW, an airport name, or several stations at once.
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The WxDecoder app gives you live weather, maps, route weather, saved examples, and quizzes that make aviation weather stick.
What this METAR decoder gives you
Every group in the report, explained one at a time, with the raw text kept beside the explanation so you can check it. Nothing is invented and nothing is summarised away.
It works out the flight category the way the rules do: the ceiling and the visibility are checked separately and the worse of the two decides the result. The reasons are shown alongside, so you can see which of the two drove it.
Remarks are decoded too, which is where most decoders stop. Sea-level pressure, the temperature group, precipitation amounts, the peak wind, pressure tendency and the automated station flags all get read.
What a METAR actually is
A METAR is a surface weather observation from an airport, not a forecast. It records what the weather did at one place at one minute. Most stations issue one every hour, near the end of the hour.
When conditions change sharply between those times, the station sends a SPECI instead. It is an unscheduled special report and it decodes exactly the same way, so you can paste either one here.
If you want the forecast for the same field, that is a TAF, and the TAF decoder reads those. For PIREPs, SIGMETs and winds aloft, the full aviation weather decoder takes all six formats.
The groups it reads
Report type and station, the date and time in Zulu, the modifiers AUTO and COR, then wind, visibility, present weather, sky condition, temperature and dew point, and the altimeter setting.
Then everything after RMK. International reports are handled too, so metric visibility such as 9999, hectopascal Q-groups and CAVOK all decode correctly rather than being skipped as unrecognised.
For a code you want to look up on its own, the METAR abbreviations list covers every one the parser reads, and the UK METAR decoder covers the hectopascal and metric conventions in more detail.
Reading the result
Start with the flight category and the reasons under it. That is the one-word answer and the two numbers behind it.
Then read the ceiling. Only broken, overcast and vertical visibility layers count as a ceiling. Few and scattered layers never do, however low they sit, which is the single most common mistake in reading a METAR by eye.
Data age is shown on every result: when the report was issued, when it was fetched, and how many minutes old it is. A stale observation is marked as stale rather than being presented as current.
Frequently asked questions
Is this METAR decoder free?
Yes, and there is no signup. Paste a report or type an airport code and it decodes as you type. The same decode is available from the API at GET /api/wx/KDFW if you want it in a script.
Can it decode international METARs?
Yes. Metric visibility such as 9999, hectopascal Q-groups, CAVOK and the trend groups used outside the United States all decode correctly, alongside the US statute miles and inches of mercury.
Does it decode the remarks?
Yes, which is where most decoders stop. Sea-level pressure, the tenth-of-a-degree temperature group, hourly precipitation, pressure tendency, the peak wind and the automated station flags are all read.
What is the difference between a METAR and a SPECI?
Timing only. A METAR is the routine hourly observation. A SPECI is an unscheduled special report issued when conditions change significantly between those hours. Both decode identically.
Can I paste more than one report at once?
Yes. Paste several stations together and each is decoded separately. You can also mix formats, so a METAR and its TAF pasted together are split apart and read as two reports.