About MetarDecoder

MetarDecoder is a free web tool that translates METAR and TAF aviation weather reports from their compact coded form into plain, readable English. It exists to help pilots, students, dispatchers, and aviation enthusiasts read weather quickly and learn the underlying codes along the way.

Our mission

Aviation weather is written in a dense shorthand that takes time to learn. Our goal is to make that information accessible — to give an instant, accurate plain-language decode of any report, and to pair it with guides that teach the codes so you eventually do not need a decoder at all. The tool and all educational content are free to use.

Who runs it

MetarDecoder is published and maintained by the team behind SkeyeMentor, an aviation education project. We build and maintain the decoding tool, write the guides, and review the worked examples. For anything you read here you can reach a real person — see our contact page.

How it works

The decoder is a deterministic parser. It does not use AI or guesswork to interpret a report — it applies the published rules of the METAR and TAF formats to break each report into its fields and describe them. The same input always produces the same output.

• You enter an airport identifier or paste a raw report.
• Live reports are retrieved from the U.S. National Weather Service Aviation Weather Center (aviationweather.gov).
• The parser breaks the report into fields — wind, visibility, weather, sky condition, temperature, pressure, and remarks — and renders each in plain English.
• Ceiling and visibility are combined to show the flight category (VFR, MVFR, IFR, LIFR).

Data sources

Live METAR and TAF data comes from the National Weather Service Aviation Weather Center. We do not originate weather observations or forecasts; we retrieve and decode the official reports. Our guides reference the FAA Aviation Weather Handbook (FAA-H-8083-28), the Aeronautical Information Manual, and NWS observation standards.

Editorial responsibility

Our guides and examples are written to be accurate and are reviewed before publication. When we find an error we correct it. If you spot something that looks wrong, please tell us — corrections from readers are welcome and we act on them. Report an issue through the contact page.