How do I read the wind and visibility groups?

Wind is direction-then-speed, so 23015G27KT means from 230° at 15 knots gusting 27; VRB is variable and 00000KT is calm. Visibility is either four digits in metres (9999 means 10 km or more) or a number with SM for statute miles (10SM, or fractions like 1 1/2SM) in the US. This tool spells all of that out and adds the km/h, mph and kilometre conversions so you don’t have to.

What do the cloud codes like BKN012 mean?

Cloud is reported in eighths of the sky (oktas): FEW is 1–2, SCT (scattered) 3–4, BKN (broken) 5–7 and OVC overcast. The three digits are the base height in hundreds of feet, so BKN012 is broken cloud at 1,200 ft. CB or TCU after a layer flags cumulonimbus or towering cumulus — the storm clouds. SKC, CLR, NSC and NCD all mean essentially no significant cloud, and VV gives a vertical visibility when the sky is obscured.

What about temperature and the Q or A pressure?

Temperature and dew point come as two numbers separated by a slash, with M for minus — 12/09 is 12°C and 9°C, M02/M04 is −2°C and −4°C. The pressure group is either Q followed by hectopascals (Q1011 = 1011 hPa, used most of the world) or A followed by inches of mercury (A2992 = 29.92 inHg, used in the US). The decoder shows both units either way.

Can I trust this for flying?

Use it to learn and to get the gist quickly, but not as your official source for flight planning — always brief from an approved aviation weather provider. The decoder reads the standard fields and, importantly, shows anything it doesn’t recognise as raw text rather than guessing, so it won’t invent a meaning. Live reports here are fetched from NOAA’s Aviation Weather Center.

🛩️ Tool

METAR Decoder

Turn a raw METAR airport weather report into plain English — wind, visibility, cloud, temperature and pressure, all spelled out. Paste one, or fetch the latest by airport code.

Free, no sign-up
Works worldwide
Instant results

Fetch the latest report by airport code (ICAO)

…or paste / type a raw METAR

DecodedAUTO

Station: EGLL
Observed: Day 26 of the month at 11:50 UTC (Zulu)
Source: Fully automated station (AUTO)
Wind: From 230° at 15 kt, gusting 27 kt (≈50 km/h, 31 mph)
Visibility: 10 km or more
Cloud: Broken clouds (5–7 eighths) at 1,200 ft
Temperature: 12°C (54°F)
Dew point: 9°C (48°F)
Pressure: 1011 hPa (≈29.85 inHg)

Decoded for convenience and learning — not for flight planning or operational use. For official briefings, use your aviation weather provider. Live data comes from NOAA’s Aviation Weather Center (aviationweather.gov).

By SK KutubuddinReviewed May 2026

Quick Answer

How do you decode a METAR?

Read it left to right: airport code, day-and-time (Zulu), then wind (direction + speed in knots), visibility (metres, or statute miles in the US), present weather, cloud cover and base height, temperature/dew point, and pressure (Q = hPa, A = inHg). Paste a METAR above — or fetch one by airport code — and this tool turns every group into plain English.

dir° + knots

Wind

metres / SM

Visibility

oktas + ft

Cloud

Q hPa / A inHg

Pressure

Methodology: METAR is a format standardised by the ICAO and WMO, so this tool decodes it deterministically — every line of output is derived by parsing the input string, not recalled from a database. It covers the body of the report (station, time, wind with gusts and variability, visibility in metres or statute miles including fractions, present-weather codes, cloud layers with CB/TCU, temperature and dew point, and the altimeter in hPa or inHg) and adds exact unit conversions. Crucially, any group it doesn’t recognise is shown raw under “not decoded” rather than guessed, and remarks are passed through verbatim, so the tool never invents a meaning. It’s for learning and convenience, not operational flight planning; live reports are fetched from NOAA’s Aviation Weather Center. How we test & calculate.

The code that runs world aviation weather

Every airport with a weather station issues a METAR — a terse, standardised line that tells pilots exactly what the weather is doing right now. It’s brilliant once you can read it and baffling before that, because everything is compressed into codes: 23015G27KT for the wind, 9999 for visibility, BKN012 for cloud. This decoder unpacks the whole thing into ordinary sentences, so a nervous flyer, a student pilot or a curious traveller can see at a glance what’s happening at the airport.

Paste one, or pull it live

If you already have a METAR — from an airline app, a flight tracker or an aviation site — paste it in and it decodes as you type. If you don’t, type the airport’s four-letter ICAO code (Heathrow is EGLL, JFK is KJFK, Dubai is OMDB) and fetch the latest report straight from NOAA’s Aviation Weather Center. Either way you get the wind direction and speed with gusts, the visibility, any present weather, the cloud layers and their heights, the temperature and dew point, and the pressure setting.

Built to be honest about the format

METARs occasionally carry unusual or regional groups, and the trailing remarks section is free-form. Rather than guess at anything it isn’t sure about, this decoder shows unrecognised groups exactly as written under a “not decoded” note, and passes the remarks through verbatim. You always see the original alongside the translation, so nothing is hidden and nothing is invented — which matters when the subject is weather and aircraft.

For learning, not for the cockpit

This is a convenience and teaching tool — a fast way to understand a report or learn the format. It isn’t a substitute for an official weather briefing, so if you’re actually flying, brief from an approved provider. Curious where the aircraft are right now? Try the live flight tracker, and time your own trip with when to leave for the airport.

Frequently Asked Questions

A METAR is the standard coded weather report issued for an airport, usually once an hour. It packs the wind, visibility, present weather, cloud, temperature, dew point and air pressure into a compact string that looks like gibberish until you know the format — for example “EGLL 261150Z AUTO 23015G27KT 9999 BKN012 12/09 Q1011”. It’s the same format worldwide because it’s standardised by the ICAO and WMO.