How To Read A METAR

Learning to read a METAR is a big step on the road to becoming a private pilot. Before we learn to read one, what is it?

What is a METAR?

A METAR is a current surface weather observation at an airport. They are updated every hour unless their is a “SPECI METAR” that is a special update.

Decipher The METAR

KRBD 091953Z 16011G20KT 10SM CLR 27/17 A3008 RMK A02 SLP178 T02670172

KRBD is the airport, the Dallas Executive Airport. The K is because it is in the United States, other countries have different letters, for example in Canada you might see CYYC or MMCN in Mexico.

091953Z is the date and time. The “09” refers to the day of the month, in this case it is the 9th day of November. 1953Z is the time, reported in Zulu time which is the “Z”. Zulu time is the same as UTC or Universal Time. Dallas is 6 hrs behind Zulu time or UTC so 1953Z would be equivalent 12:53p local time. If you don’t know your local timezone’s difference from UTC, a quick google will give you the answer.

16011G20KT stands for the wind direction and velocity. This would be 160 degrees true direction and 11 knots gusting to 20 knots velocity.

10SM is the visibility, 10 Statute Miles visibility in this METAR. It is helpful to know that beyond a certain point you won’t see them put the actual visibility. If it is 20SM they will usually just report P5SM or 10SM, P5SM means greater than or “plus” 5.

CLR is the cloud amount and height. CLR is clear skies but an example of 006OVC would be an overcast layer at 600 ft AGL. Other options could be SCT=Scattered, BKN=Broken, FEW=Few, and SKC=Sky Clear which all indicate different levels of cloud coverage.

27/17 the temperature and dew point. This is read as 27°C for temperature and 17°C for dew point.

A3008 tells us our altimeter setting in inches of mercury, accounting for the non-standard pressure at the time of the report.

RMK is the start of our “remarks” section which has additional important information beyond the standard observations.

A02 means that the airport equipment can identify the actual type of precipitation, such as rain or snow.

SLP178 is sea level pressure, this is not something the typical pilot would ever use considering we already have our altimeter setting.

T02670172 is a further breakdown of our temperature and dew point. This would be 26.7°C and 17.2°C and is also not relevant for the pilot when we already have 27/17 reported above.

Different types of sky cover

Additional Helpful Codes

Thanks for reading! If you have more questions a great place to look is the FAA METAR/TAF LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS and also the FAA Weather Services Advisory Circular.