METAR code contains valuable weather information to aviators and meteorologists. The information is sent through a code that consists of numbers and letters that are displayed in an abbreviated and standardized form.
You’re probably looking at the image above and thinking, what the heck is that? Did a cat walk across the keyboard while he was writing this blog?
While that line of numbers and letters may seem like gibberish to most, it contains important current weather information to air traffic control, pilots and meteorologists.
Air traffic control and pilots use this information for procedures and decision making. This information is also useful to meteorologists to know what’s happening at any airport without being there.
The information in METAR code always follows the same order, so let’s give a lesson on how to read it. The following is from the code in the image above.
KPOU is code for the Dutchess County Airport in Poughkeepsie, New York.
The first two numbers 01 signify the date: Feb. 1. The last four numbers and the letter z signify the time. The Z stands for Zulu time.
Since Eastern Standard Time is five hours behind Zulu time, 2353z is 6:53 p.m. EST. All put together, this report is from Feb. 1 at 6:53 p.m. EST.
This part of the code gives the average wind direction and wind speed with wind speed reported in knots. The first three numbers are the wind direction–220 degrees–and the last two numbers display the speed of 4 knots.
Visibility is the next part of the code. 10sm means 10 statute miles.
Codes for cloudcover in METAR code are as follows.
- FEW: Mostly clear
- SCT: Scattered clouds, partly cloudy
- BKN: Mostly Cloudy
- OVC: Overcast, cloudy
The numbers 035 tell us how high up the clouds are. OVC035 stands for overcast sky at 3,500 feet.
The first number in the code indicates the rounded air temperature, with the second number indicating the rounded dew point temperature.
Temperatures in the code are in Celsius, so the air temperature is 5 degrees Celsius (41 degrees Fahrenheit) and the dew point temperature is 1 degree Celsius (34 degrees Fahrenheit). There is another temperature report in the code that we’ll get to a little later.
The A in the code just stands for altimeter. 2990 is 29.90 inches of mercury for the pressure. Pressure is brought up again in this code, which we’ll touch on.
RMK is just an abbreviation for remarks. If there were any special remarks on this observation, it would follow this abbreviation.
This also marks the end of the standard observation. Since this observation was from just before 7 p.m., there will be a few special observations listed at the end of the code, which we’ll get to soon.
A02 is code telling the reader that the weather station at this location is automated and has a precipitation sensor. If it didn’t, this would instead say A01.
SLP is short for sea level pressure. SLP122 equates to 1012.2 millibars. We kind of covered this above with the altimeter reading. 29.90 inches of mercury equates to 1012.2 millibars.
I know some of this is a little redundant, but this part of the code gives the exact temperature at the time of observation and not a rounded number.
T just stands for temperature. The first four numbers show the air temperature: 0050 = 5.0 degrees Celsius (41.0 degrees Fahrenheit). The last four numbers tell the dew point temperature: 0006 = 0.6 degree Celsius (33.1 degrees Fahrenheit).
While the high or low temperature can occur after 7 p.m., these are those values through that time on this date.
The number 1 in the first set of numbers indicates this is what the high for the day so far is. 10061 = 6.1 degrees Celsius (43.0 degrees Fahrenheit). The number 2 in the second set of numbers indicates this is what the low temperature for the day is so far. So, 20044 = 4.4 degrees Celsius (39.9 degrees Fahrenheit).
The 5 tells us we are reading the three-hour pressure tendency. The following three digits describe the amount the pressure has risen or fallen in the past three hours, with a missing tenths place decimal.
53002 = In the past three hours, the pressure fell before a greater rise. The total rise was 0.2 millibars.
I know that may have seemed tedious and a lot of extra work to read weather information, but when you’re used to reading it, it is faster to take in this kind of weather information reading METAR code.
Our team of meteorologists dives deep into the science of weather and breaks down timely weather data and information. To view more weather and climate stories, check out our weather blogs section.
