Sky-High Shenanigans: Decoding the Language of Clouds - METAR

Ever looked up at the sky and thought, "Is that a cloud, or is the sky having a bad hair day?" If yes, you're not alone. And if you’re an aviator, well, knowing the difference between fluffy clouds and impending doom is kind of crucial. That's where METAR comes in, and boy, it’s more fun than it sounds (mostly).

What in the Weather is METAR?

Imagine the sky sending you a text message. But instead of emojis and "lol," it's a cryptic string of letters and numbers that sound like alien gibberish. That, in a nutshell, is METAR. It stands for Meteorological Terminal Air Report. Basically, it tells you what's happening with the weather at a specific airport, right now.

Think of it as the sky's status update. "Currently feeling: cloudy with a chance of needing an umbrella (or avoiding flying)." Understanding METAR is like learning a secret weather code where the secret is public.

Here is what a METAR looks like. Yes, this is my obligatory METAR mention in this blog, and, yes, it’s from my favorite airport, KC29 - Middleton Morey Airport. I will cover this airport in the upcoming airport of the week post.

METAR KC29 090055Z AUTO 05006KT 10SM CLR 14/01 A3022 RMK AO1 T01350012

I was going to make this the METAR quiz, but then I realized that a quiz wouldn’t make sense at this point given the context of this post!

Why Should You Care About This Alphabet Soup?

If you're flying a plane, or even just fascinated by the world above us, METAR is your friend. It tells you things like:

• Wind speed and direction: Will you be landing smoothly, or fighting a gusty crosswind?
• Visibility: Can you see where you’re going, or will essentially be playing a video game?
• Cloud conditions: Are they fluffy and friendly, or dark and menacing?
• Temperature and dew point: Is it going to be a balmy day, or will you need to defrost your wings?
• Altimeter setting: The number that makes your airplane instrument read correctly.

Where to begin?

I thought about reinventing the wheel here and writing a guide myself, but decided not to. You have two paths.

If you're not training to be a pilot, don’t worry, you don’t have to decipher cryptic sky-code. Just casually browse the Wikipedia entry or check out a friendly guide like basics of METAR at METARQuiz.com or see a decoded METAR at metar-taf.com/KC29 and pretend you're fluent in cloud hieroglyphics.

If you somehow ended up here shopping for a gift for your pilot friend or cousin who flies things more expensive than your car, skip the homework. Just buy them a PaperMETAR and act like you’ve known METARs since birth. Then really blow their mind by tossing out a few questions from this quiz. Bonus points if you say, “Oh, you didn’t know that? Weird.”

If you're working toward your pilot’s license or just have a healthy obsession with aviation, you’ll want to check out the FAA’s Aviation Weather Handbook (PDF – current as of May 2025, but always double-check for the latest). Jump to section “24.4 – Aviation Routine Weather Report (METAR) and Aviation Selected Special Weather Report (SPECI).” It’s basically the decoder ring for understanding those seemingly random strings of letters and numbers pilots love to toss around.

The Pilot’s Handbook of Aeronautical Knowledge gives you a quicker overview if you’re short on time, but the Aviation Weather Handbook is where the real METAR magic lives. It’s perfect if you want to impress your flight instructor and your weather app.

PaperMETAR: Your Personal Weather Translator

Instead of squinting at a computer screen, or trying to decipher radio chatter, PaperMETAR puts all this info right in front of you, on a cool, energy-efficient ePaper display. It's like having a weather whisperer at your FBO or desk.

I have packed PaperMETAR with features designed to make understanding METAR a breeze. You'll be able to quickly see the key weather data at a glance, quiz yourself, and impress your friends with your newfound weather wisdom. Why not join the pre-release below?