Metars, TAFs, and Airmets

Lab 10 was an online lab about decoding Metars, TAFs, and Airmets. The class took screenshots of metars and TAFs for the Lafayette airport on a given day. The airmet was pulled from skyvector. These metars, TAFs, and airmets are broken down one section at a time to show the process of decoding the information.

Metar - Metars are brief weather reports for a given airport/weather station.

METAR is the top line of the data in the photo.

KLAF - This is the code for the location that the Metar/TAF is reporting weather on. K stands for airports in the United States. LAF is the designation for the Lafayette airport.

041554Z - This represents the time that the metar was recorded. 04 is the day of the month that it is reporting. 1554Z is the time of day, 15:54 zulu, that it was recorded. Zulu is the universal standard time for all metars and TAFs. 

24013G21KT - This code stands for the wind in the area. 240 is the wind direction in degrees. 13 means the wind is moving at 13 knots and G21KT shows that the wind is gusting up to 21 knots. KT shows that the wind speed is being measured in knots.

10SM - This section is for visibility. It is measured in statute miles. The visibility at KLAF is 10 statute miles. 

CLR - CLR means the skies are clear. If there are any clouds, they are recorded in this area.

11/03 - This is the temperature and dewpoint, listed in Celsius. It is 11 degrees Celsius and the dewpoint is at 3 degrees Celsius.

A3001 - A stands for altimeter. This parts lists the altimeter pressure. There is 30.01 inches of mercury for the pressure.

RMK - RMK is the remarks section. This section is for various weather and precipitation remarks.

A02 - This means that the site of the metar is automated and has a precipitation sensor.

SLP164 - This denotes the sea level pressure. The sea level pressure is 1016.4 mb

T01060028 - This is more specific section for temperature. The earlier one is rounded up. The temperature is 10.6 degrees Celsius and the dewpoint is 2.8 degrees Celsius.

TAF - TAFs are weather reports for a given airport/weather station for specific time zones.

TAF is the bottom four lines of data in the photo.

041505Z - This is the time that the TAF was recorded. 04 is the day of the month. 1505Z is the time of day, 15:05 zulu, that the TAF was recorded.

0415/0512 - This states the time that the TAF is effective for. The TAF begins at 15:00 zulu on the 4th day of the month and ends at 12:00 zulu on the 5th day of the month.

22010G16KT - The wind direction is 220 degrees. The wind speed is 10 knots and the wind is gusting up to 16 knots. 

P6SM - The visibility is more than 6 statute miles.

FEW200 - This reports what clouds are in the sky. There are few clouds up to 20,000 feet.

FM041800 - This part of a TAF reports expected weather for a given time. The time listed here is from 18:00 zulu on the 4th day.

23013KT - The wind is moving at 13 knots from 230 degrees. 

P6SM - The visibility is more than 6 statute miles.

BKN060 - There is a broken cloud layer at 6,000 feet.

FM042300 25009KT P6SM BKN100 - From 23:00 zulu of the 4th day, winds are moving at 9 knots from 250 degrees. The visibility is more than 6 statute miles and there is a broken cloud layer at 10,000 feet.

FM050500 29007KT P6SM BKN070 - From 05:00 zulu of the 5th day of the monthm winds are moving at 7 knots from 290 degrees. The visibility is more than 6 statute miles and there is a broken cloud layer at 7,000 feet.

Airmet - Airmets are meteorological reports on various weather phenomena.

WAUS46 - This parts explains that the following report is an airmet. WA means airmet. US stands for the contiguous United States. 46 means that this is an area forecast.

KKCI - This is the location identifier. KKCI is the Kansas City International airport. 

110245 - This airmet was recorded at 02:45 zulu on the 11th day of the month.

Airmet Tango - This is an airmet for turbulence.

Valid Until 110900 - This airmet is valid until 09:00 zulu of the 11th day of the month.

Airmet TURB...CA NV UT CO AZ NM - This part lists the states effected by this area of turbulence. The states are California, Nevada, Utah, Colorado, Arizona, and New Mexico.

FROM 40ENE LAA TO 50W LBL TO 30ESE TBE TO 20WSW TXO TO 40W SJN 

TO 70WSW TUS TO BZA TO 20S MZB TO 50NNE LAX TO 50SSW OAL TO 

70ENE OAL TO 50W PUB TO 40ENE LAA  - This part states the airports that are effected and the direction of the wind. 40 ENE LAA means the turbulence direction is 40 east-northeast at KLAA Lamar Municipal Airport in Colorado.

MOD TURB BTN FL270 AND FL410. CONDS CONTG BYD 09Z THRU 15Z. - MOD TURB means there is moderate turbulence. BTN FL270 and FL410 means between flight level 27,000 feet and flight level 41,000 feet. CONDS CONTG BYD 09Z THRU 15Z means conditions continuing beyond 09:00 zulu through 15:00 zulu.

Conclusion

Metars, TAFs, and Airmets are important to know if you plan to work in aviation. Weather information is vital to whether you will be able to fly in a given area at a given time. The metars and TAFs are somewhat easy to decode after a little bit of practice, but the airmet was harder to understand and harder to find information for. Overall this lab provided a basic understanding of decoding these various weather reports.