Decoding METAR and TAF

TAF LKPR 290700Z 290918 15007KT 5000 BR BKN020 BECMG 0911 30015G25KT 9999
BKN030 TEMPO 1118 3000 SHRASN BKN015 PROB30 TEMPO 1318 2000 TSRASN SCT010CB=
METAR LKPR 290700Z 15004KT 120V220 1200NW 6000S R24/0450V1200U R31/0550V1300N
BR SCT007 BKN013 M02/M03 Q1020 REFZFG 13350129 06791122 BECMG FM0730 TL0830 5000 BR
BKN020 (RMK REG QNH 1013)=

Forecast

Explanation

Report

TAF

Message Type: TAF – airport forecast, METAR – regular aviation meteorological report including landing forecast, SPECIES – special aeronautical meteorological report

Meter

LKPR ICAO four-letter airport identifier

LKPR

290700Z

Release Time: All times in UTC “Z”
2-digit day of the month, 4-digit time hour, minute

290700Z

290918

Validity period: 2-digit day of the month,
2-digit hour of the start of the validity period,
2-digit time of the end of the validity period
METAR: (AUTOmated) report indicator containing a fully automatic observation (without observer intervention)

CAR

15007KT

Wind: 3-digit – average wind direction with respect to geographic north given to the nearest 10 degrees, or variable wind (VaRiaBle), following 2-3 digits – speed and unit.
KT nodes (KMH or MPS); as needed,
Impacts (Gust) and maximum speed; 00000KT for no wind;
for METAR, if the heading varies by 60 degrees or more, it is added V (Variability)
for example 120V220 if the wind speed is >99KT, then it is given in three digits in the form P99KT

5000

Minimum horizontal visibility: 4-digit, in meters; 10 km and more: 9999.
4-digit minimum/highest visibility in meters, in case of significant directional differences (more than 50%), an eight-part compass scale is used to determine the direction in which the extremes of visibility are observed (N,NE,E,SE,S,SW,W,NW).
1200NW
6000S

 

Runway Visibility (RVR): R; 2-digit designation of VPD, left, middle, right (Left Center, or Right) as needed; “/”; 4-digit value, in meters; 4-digit value, fluctuating (Variability), 4-digit value if the tendency can be determined: downward (Down), ascending (Up), without changes (Nabout change)
R24 / 0450
V1200U

 

BR

Significant current and forecast weather - see. decoding table (below)
FREAKING
TSRASN

 

BKN020 Amount and height of cloud base
clearly (SKy Clear) 0/8, almost clear (F.E.W.) >0/8-2/8,
semi clear (SCaTtered) 3/8-4/8, cloudy to almost cloudy (BroKeN) 5/8-7/8, cloudy (OVerCast) 8/8; 3 digits - height of cloud base in hundreds of FT above the Earth's surface;
tower cumulus (Towering CUmulus) or cumulonimbus (CumuloniumBus) in METAR; in TAF only CB.
vertical visibility (Vvertical Visibility) if the sky cannot be discerned,
height in hundreds of FT above the Earth's surface, eg "VV004".
A maximum of four layers are given in a report or forecast.
without significant cloud cover (No Significant Clouds) for cloud base altitude above 5000FT
if the code word cannot be used CAVOK
(Cloud And Visibility OK) means horizontal visibility >=10km; no clouds below 5000FT
(1500m) or below the highest minimum sector height (whichever is greater, 5000FT always applies to the Czech Republic) and there are no CBs,
and no precipitation or TS, DS, SS, MIFG, DRDU, DRSA, DRSN observed.
OVC010CB
Temperature in degrees Celsius; first 2-digits – air temperature, “/”, last 2-digits dew-point temperature. Temperatures below 0 C are marked (Minus).

M02 / M03

Air pressure: indicator (Q-hectoPascal) and 4-digits, eg: Q1013, if the QNH value is lower than 1000 hPa: Q0997.

Q1020

Past operationally significant weather events (REcent) – observed since the last regular report, but do not last.
Wind shear (Wind Shear RWY) 2-digit designation of VPD
WS ALL RWY – wind shear is observed in the entire area of ​​the airport's runways.
REFZFG
WS RWY24

 

State of runways, first 2-digits: VPD designation, last 2-digits coefficient of friction or braking effect, middle 4-digits: extent of VPD contamination, quality and thickness of deposit - see table
24CLRD//- VPD 24 was cleared, 88CLRD//- all VPDs were cleared.
SNOCK – the airport is closed due to extreme snow or ice coverage.
13350129

 

6791122

FM1930

From (FroM) and 4-digit time hour, minute
marks the beginning of a separate forecast - a significant change in METAR can be used to mark the end "To" (TilL).
FM0730

 

TL0830

TIME 2022

Transient, irregular changes (TIMErare)
in TAF: expected duration < 1 hour and a total of less than half of the interval delimited by 2 digits (start in hours) and 2 digits (end in hours) the description of the conditions follows.
TIME
 (FM...TL)

 

PROB30 TEMPO 1318

The probability (PROBability) of the occurrence of an alternative value of the predicted element during a certain time period and a 2-digit in % (it only takes values ​​of 30 or 40).

is not used

BECMG 1315

Expected change occurrence (BECoMinG) conditions:
in TAF: during a time interval delimited by 2 digits (start in hours) and 2 digits (end in hours), the following is a description of the changing elements in METAR: a change is expected within two hours of the report being issued.

BECMG

Notes (ReMarKs): used only at the national level, for example in the Czech Republic regional QNH (forecast of the lowest QNH value in the FIR for the next 3 hours).
regional QNH (forecast of the lowest QNH value in the FIR for the next 3 hours).

RMK REG QNH 1013

Featured current and forecast weather

More detailed definition of the phenomenon:

1. INTENSITY OR CLOSENESS

  • – weak
  • "no indicator" mild
  • + strong
  • VC near (ViCinity)

2. DESCRIPTION OF THE PHENOMENON

  • MI ground floor
  • BC belts, tufts
  • PR partially covering the airport (PaRtial)
  • TS thunderstorm (TdogsStorm)
  • BL whirled (BLowing)
  • SH showers (SHowers)
  • DR low-slung (DRifting)
  • FZ cold, freezing (FreeZeng)
Phenomenon:

3. PRECIPITATION

  • DZ drizzle (DriZbadly)
  • RA rain (RAin)
  • SN snow (SNow)
  • SG snowflakes (Snow Grains)
  • IC ice needles - crystals (Ice Crystals)
  • PL frozen rain (ice PeLflights)
  • GR hail ("Granit Rain”)
  • GS small hail or snow or ice flakes

4. TURBIDITY

  • BR smoky
  • FG fog (FoG)
  • FU smoke
  • VA volcanic ash (Volcanic Ash)
  • SA sand (SAn/a)
  • HZ turbidity (HaZe)
  • DU extensive dust (DUst)

5. OTHERS

  • SQ hump (SQualls)
  • SS sandstorm (SandStorm)
  • DS dust storm (DmouthStorm)
  • FC funnel cloud (tornado) (Funnel Clode)
  • PO dust or sand eddies

He prepared martin@marecek.cz with the kind help of RNDr. Bohumil Techlovský, ČHMI rev. 2 (13/2/2002).
An integral part is the decoding table: Significant current and forecast weather.
Recommended decoding table: Track Status Group. It is used at LKPR, LKTB, LKMT airports.