How to Read a METAR, Step by Step

METAR is the code name for the routine weather report of an aerodrome. A METAR is issued at hourly or half-hourly intervals. A SPECI is a special report in the same form, which can appear at any time when certain criteria are met. A trend forecast may be appended to both.

The fixed order

The groups appear in this order: identification with location and time, surface wind, visibility, runway visual range (if available), present weather, cloud or vertical visibility, air and dew-point temperature, QNH and supplementary information. With the order in mind, you recognise each group quickly.

A real example from Vienna

The station LOWW, Vienna airport, issued this METAR on 22 October 2026 at 07:20 UTC. Source: aviationweather.gov, retrieved on 22 October 2026 at 07:28 UTC.

LOWW 220720Z 31018KT 9999 SCT045 11/08 Q1017 NOSIG

Group	Meaning
LOWW	ICAO location indicator of the reporting station, here Vienna
220720Z	Day 22 of the month, 07:20 UTC, followed by the letter Z
31018KT	Wind from 310° true at 18 kt, averaged over 10 minutes
9999	Visibility 10 km or more
SCT045	3 to 4 eighths of cloud, base 4,500 ft above aerodrome elevation
11/08	Air temperature 11 °C, dew point 8 °C
Q1017	QNH 1017 hPa
NOSIG	No significant change expected in the next 2 hours

According to the FAA Aviation Weather Handbook, wind is named after the direction from which it blows.

Temperature and dew point

Both values are given in whole degrees Celsius, separated by a slash. Temperatures below 0 °C begin with M for minus. The FAA Aviation Weather Handbook calls the difference between temperature and dew point the spread, here 11 °C − 8 °C = 3 °C. The smaller the spread, the higher the relative humidity, and at zero the air is saturated. The spread is important for anticipating fog, but has little bearing on precipitation.

Special cases and abbreviations

Abbreviation	Meaning
AUTO	Fully automated observation without human intervention
CAVOK	Replaces visibility, weather and cloud when visibility is 10 km or more, there is no cloud below 1,500 m (5,000 ft) or below the highest minimum sector altitude (whichever is greater), no CB or TCU, and no significant weather
31015G27KT	G stands for gusts: they are reported when the peak exceeds the mean speed by 10 kt or more
VRB02KT	Variable wind direction: only for wind below 3 kt, or at 3 kt or more when the direction varies by 180° or more and no single direction can be determined
+SHRA	Heavy rain shower (+ heavy, SH shower, RA rain): intensity, characteristic and phenomenon appear in this order
BR and FG	Mist when visibility is 1,000 to 5,000 m, fog when visibility is below 1,000 m
TEMPO	Temporary fluctuations that last less than 1 hour each time and less than half the forecast period in total
BECMG	Expected change that reaches or passes specified values at a regular or irregular rate

A second real METAR from the same query comes from EDDM, Munich airport, at 07:20 UTC:

EDDM 220720Z AUTO 24010KT CAVOK 08/05 Q1021 TEMPO 26015KT

It is fully automated, reports CAVOK and forecasts temporary wind from 260° at 15 kt.

The limits of a METAR

The cloud observation should be representative of an area within a radius of about 16 km of the aerodrome reference point, but it can be limited by obstacles or terrain. With a visibility of only 2,000 m, patches of low cloud on the approach may not be seen and are then not reported.

What the EASA syllabus says

In the PPL(A) theoretical knowledge syllabus, “Aviation weather messages” belong to Meteorology, under “Information for flight planning”. In the communications part, the item “Aerodrome weather” appears under “Relevant weather information terms (VFR)“.