METAR & TAF decoder for student pilots
Learn to read a pasted METAR or TAF: wind, visibility, clouds and forecast changes, explained locally in your browser.
Learn with a fictional example
Learn with a fictional example
For education only. These fictional cases are not a flight briefing, navigation instruction or aircraft loading approval. Use current official information and approved aircraft documentation for real operations.
Static walkthrough: no fields or settings are changed.
Steps
Practise reading a weather report. Paste the fictional METAR below, set the reference month to 2026-10 and select Decode. Read warnings and undecoded tokens before interpreting values.
Worked example
METAR LFXX 081200Z 24010KT 9999 SCT030 18/10 Q1015=
Read the result
Fictional LFXX: day 08 at 12:00 UTC; wind from 240° true at 10 kt; visibility at least 10 km; scattered clouds with bases 3,000 ft above aerodrome level; temperature 18 °C, dew point 10 °C, QNH 1015 hPa. The report contains no year or month: the reference month supplies context. Decoding does not verify currency, completeness or flight suitability.
Reference: NOAA Aviation Weather Center
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Quick answer
Z means UTC, not local time. 081230Z means day 08 at 12:30 UTC; the code contains no month or year. A METAR describes its observation time, not a validity period.
The page and its assets load from the site; this operation uses your entered values only in this browser and does not send them to a calculation endpoint.
How to use it
Learn to read a pasted METAR or TAF: wind, visibility, clouds and forecast changes, explained locally in your browser.
Limits
The output reflects the method and inputs described here. Check it before relying on it for an important decision.
Frequently asked questions
Does this fetch current weather?
Training only. Pasted text is not refreshed and may be old. Consult official weather sources before flight. Decoded locally in your browser. No weather request is sent.
What does CAVOK really mean?
CAVOK: visibility at least 10 km, no significant weather, no CB or TCU, and no cloud below the higher of 5,000 ft above the aerodrome or the minimum sector altitude minus aerodrome elevation. It does not mean cloudless.
How do FM, BECMG and TEMPO differ?
A TAF is a forecast for its stated period. FM replaces prevailing conditions from its exact time. BECMG changes the stated elements within a window; the resulting conditions persist, but the transition time is unspecified. TEMPO describes fluctuations lasting under an hour each and less than half the window in total. PROB30/40 means 30%/40% probability; PROB TEMPO adds that probability to temporary fluctuations.
Why enter a reference month?
Enter the bulletin’s observation or issue month as YYYY-MM. No month is guessed. Without it, times show only the day and UTC time; with it, nearby month rollovers are calculated from that reference.
Sources and references
- Météo-France — Guide aviation 2024 (aviation guide in French)
- NOAA Aviation Weather Center — data help
These references document the cited standard or browser API; they do not validate the tool’s output.