METAR decoder

Enter an ICAO identifier and get the airfield's current METAR, decoded group by group and with its GAFOR category.

Hover over a group or tap it.

EDDPAirfield

The airfield's four-letter ICAO code. EDDP, for example, is Leipzig/Halle.

How the METARMAP shows this airfield

From every METAR, the METARMAP and the METARMAP Mini work out the GAFOR category and light the airfield's LED in its colour. The worse of the two values always decides: visibility or cloud ceiling. See the maps →

Oscar, open

Visibility10 km or more → C

Cloud ceiling4500 ft → O

Visibility ↓ / Cloud ceiling →	500 to 1000 ft	1000 to 2000 ft	2000 to 5000 ft	above 5000 ft, no cloud
over 10 km	M2	D1	O	C
8 to 10 km	M2	D1	O	O
5 to 8 km	M5	D4	D3	D3
1.5 to 5 km	M8	M7	M6	M6
below 1.5 km	X	X	X	X

Calculated from the observation itself. The official GAFOR by the DWD is a forecast for areas.

How the decoder works

Enter an airfield's ICAO identifier, such as EGLL for London Heathrow or EDDH for Hamburg, and click Decode. The decoder fetches the latest report for that airfield and splits it into its groups. Hover over a group and its explanation appears below, with the values from that report. On a phone, tap the group.

You can also paste a complete METAR, for example from a briefing or an app. The decoder then reads only your text and fetches nothing.

The reports come from the Aviation Weather Center of the US weather service NOAA, which collects METARs from airfields worldwide. Most airfields report every 30 or 60 minutes.

The current weather at all 82 airfields on the METARMAP is under METARs for Germany, and the TAF decoder decodes the forecast.

GAFOR category

From the visibility and the cloud ceiling, the decoder also works out the GAFOR category, from Charlie to X-Ray. The METARMAP colours its LEDs by this scheme. The article on GAFOR colours has the exact limits.

The groups of a METAR

Group	Example	Meaning
Report type	`METAR`	Routine report, SPECI is a special report
Identifier	`EDDP`	ICAO code of the airfield
Time	`291150Z`	Day of the month and time in UTC
Wind	`24012KT`	Direction in degrees, speed in knots
Visibility	`9999`	Visibility in metres, 9999 means 10 km or more
Weather	`-SHRA`	Precipitation, fog or thunderstorms
Cloud	`BKN045`	Sky cover and height in hundreds of feet
Temperature	`17/09`	Temperature and dewpoint in °C
Pressure	`Q1016`	QNH in hectopascals
Trend	`NOSIG`	What the next two hours should bring

More examples and the common abbreviations are in the article on how to read a METAR.

Every abbreviation and its meaning is in the list of METAR abbreviations.

The decoder is a reading aid. For flight planning, the official sources and a weather briefing apply.

The weather as a map

The METARMAP fetches the METARs of around 80 airfields every five minutes and shows each one as an LED in its GAFOR colour.