Example 1 - 2000/03/17 17:53 KIAH 171753Z 10010KT 10SM FEW030 SCT065 SCT250 23/14 A3012 RMK AO2 SLP197 T02280144 10228 20100 56018

2000/03/17 17:53 KIAH 171753Z- The observation date and time in standard format followed by the four character station identifier and finally a compressed repeat of the observation time.

10010KT - Winds 100 degrees at 10 knots.

10SM - Visibility 10 statute miles.

FEW030 SCT065 SCT250 - Cloud cover. A few clouds at 3,000 feet, scattered clouds at 6,500 feet and more scattered clouds at 25,000 feet.

23/14 - Temperature/Dewpoint in degrees Celsius. If you need to convert that to Fahrenheit, check out the Weather Calculator page.

A3012 - Altimeter setting in inches of mercury or 30.12 inhg in this case.

RMK - Remarks include clarifying or augmenting data.

AO2 - The type of automated station, an automated station with precipitation discriminator in this case.

SLP197 - Sea level pressure with tens, units and tenths of hectopascals or 1019.7 hectopascals in this case.

T02280144 - Temperature and dewpoint coded as: TO - Identifier; 228 - 22.8 degrees celsius temperature; 0 - dewpoint above zero, 1 if below zero; 144 - 14.4 degrees celsius dewpoint.

10228 - Maximum 6 hr temperature. The 1 is the identifier, then once again 0 and 1 reflect above and below zero celsius. Finally, the temperature including tenths. +22.8 degrees celsius in this case.

20100 - Minimum 6 hr temperature. The 2 is the identifier, then as with the maximum temperature. In this case the minimum was +10.0 degrees celsius.

56018 - Pressure tendency over the last 3 hours. The 5 is the identifier. The second digit, 6 in this case, characterizes the barometric tendency. A 6 means decreasing then steady. Finally, the tendency with tenths of a hectopascal. At Houston the barometric pressure over the last three hours has been decreasing then steady, with a drop of 1.8 hectopascals.

As you can see, METARs pack a lot of information into a couple of lines of characters. In most cases, you will only be concerned with a couple of the fields. You learn to pick them out relatively quickly. So now that we know what a METAR is, where can we find them. The form below will give you the METAR for the four character ICAO identifier you enter.

To retrieve the latest METAR for you departure or destination, enter the four character ICAO location identifiers in the box. You can retrieve up to three different METARs by typing them with a space in between. For example: KIAH, KHOU, and KMSY. The click on Submit. The Clear button will clear the box of all entries. The form will open a new window to the National Weather Service METAR site.