Stop decoding weather reports one group at a time with a legend open in another tab. Type any airport code and the free METAR & TAF Decoder pulls the latest report, explains every group and draws the clouds over the field.
Made by the flight instructors at Pilot Institute.
A one minute tour shows you around the first time you open it. After that, click any part of a report to see what it means, instead of hunting through a legend.
Textbook examples are tidy, and real reports rarely are. Type KSDL or just SDL and we pull the current METAR from aviationweather.gov, with how old it is and the field elevation. Hit Random Airport to practice somewhere new, or paste in any report you’re studying.
SCT020CB OVC035 is hard to picture as a line of text. The decoder draws every cloud layer on an altitude ladder and marks the ceiling and the visibility. Then it puts the wind on a compass dial, with the gusts and any variable range.
The remarks are where most people give up, even though that’s where details like peak wind, lightning and the exact temperature live. Click any group to jump to its explanation, and turn on teaching notes for the why behind it.
A TAF packs a day of weather into one long string. The decoder splits it into time periods and explains every FM, TEMPO, BECMG and PROB group. A timeline shows the flight category across the whole forecast, so you can see when it goes IFR.
Recognizing a group is easier than reading a report cold. Pick METARs, TAFs or both, and the quiz shows you a real report and asks about its parts, from the wind to the remarks. Every answer comes with the explanation, right or wrong.
Get comfortable with METARs and TAFs before you see them on the knowledge test, on your checkride and in every preflight briefing.
Reading METARs and TAFs is on the Part 107 test. Practice on real reports until the codes stop slowing you down.
Pull up the live report for your field during ground lessons and click through it together, then point your student to the quiz for homework. It’s free for both of you.
The METAR decoder, the TAF decoder and the quiz all live in one place, so you can switch between them any time.
Yes. The METAR decoder, the TAF decoder and the quiz are all free, with no trial and no paywall.
When you type an airport code, the decoder pulls the latest report from aviationweather.gov. You can also paste in any METAR or TAF yourself, like one from a practice test.
No. Every group comes with a plain-English explanation, and a one minute tour shows you around the first time you open it.
Yes. It reads international reports too, including visibility in meters, pressure in hectopascals, CAVOK and trend forecasts like NOSIG and TEMPO.
Only some airports issue one. If yours doesn’t, the decoder tells you, and you can pull the forecast for a nearby airport instead.
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No. It’s a training tool, so the decoding can be incomplete and live reports can be delayed or missing. Before every flight, get an official weather briefing and read the current reports from an approved source.
Yes, and it’s free for them too. Pull up the same report and talk it through before you go fly.
Live reports for any airport, every group in plain English and a quiz on real weather. No account, no paywall, nothing to install.
Decode a METAR Free