PIREP Generator
Generate a random pilot report, read the fields, then decode it to check yourself.
Every generated report carries a location, altitude, aircraft type and both hazard fields, and is checked against the same parser that reads real ones.
Take this with you.
The WxDecoder app gives you live weather, maps, route weather, saved examples, and quizzes that make aviation weather stick.
How to practise with the PIREP generator
A PIREP is built from tagged fields rather than a fixed sequence, so the skill is finding the field you want rather than counting positions. Each one opens with a slash and two letters and runs to the next slash.
Read the report and name the location, the altitude, the aircraft and both hazards before you decode. Then press Decode and compare.
Every generated report carries /TB and /IC, including negative ones, because a report of nothing is a real report and worth recognising.
Read the aircraft type first
The intensity words describe what happened to the aircraft, not a property of the air. The generator picks from light singles through to jets on purpose, so the same word means different things across reports.
Moderate turbulence in a C172 and moderate in a B738 are not the same air. Practising the habit of reading /TP before /TB is most of the value here.
Severe turbulence reports are generated as urgent, carrying UUA instead of UA, which is how the real system flags them for priority handling.
Where to look things up
The PIREP codes page lists every tagged field and every intensity, frequency and type word the parser reads, generated from the decoder itself.
For the hazards specifically, PIREP turbulence codes and PIREP icing codes go through what each intensity actually means in the cockpit.
Real pilot reports, plotted on a map, are on the pilot report map. To drill all three formats mixed together, try the aviation weather quiz.
Frequently asked questions
What fields do the generated PIREPs include?
Location, time, flight level, aircraft type, both hazard fields, and usually a sky field with cloud bases and tops. Each is a real tagged field that the decoder reads the same way it reads a live report.
Are severe reports marked urgent?
Yes. A generated report with severe turbulence carries UUA rather than UA, matching the real convention where severe turbulence, severe icing, shear, tornadoes, hail and ash earn urgent handling.
Does it generate AIREPs?
Not yet. The generator produces tagged PIREPs. To practise the tagless AIREP form, use the example picker on the decoder, which includes a real AIREP downlink.
Why do some reports say NEG?
Because a negative report is real information. A pilot who flew a forecast icing layer and found nothing tells everybody behind them something no forecast can, so recognising NEG is part of reading PIREPs.