Definition
A visual presentation of current surface weather observations from reporting airports, displayed on a multi-function display (MFD) or electronic flight display (EFD) as colored symbols, flags, or icons overlaid on a moving map. Each symbol encodes the same information found in a text METAR — flight category (VFR, MVFR, IFR, LIFR), wind, visibility, ceiling, and significant weather — but in a form the pilot can interpret at a glance without reading raw coded text.
Plain English
It's the airport weather report shown as a picture instead of written code. Colored dots or symbols on the map tell you, at a glance, whether each airport currently has good weather, marginal weather, or bad weather, plus wind and visibility.
Context Anchor
Seen on a multi-function display, glass cockpit weather page, or tablet weather map when checking conditions along a route or near an airport.
Derivation
METAR comes from the French phrase for 'routine aviation weather observation report.' 'Graphical' simply means the data is shown as graphics — colors, symbols, flags — rather than as the original coded text string.
Why Pilots Care
Gives pilots an immediate visual picture of current weather at multiple airports during preflight planning and in-flight decisions.
Intuition Check
Graphical does not mean the weather is more complete or more current than the METAR itself. It means the same kind of weather report is being shown visually, and it may still be delayed or limited to reporting locations.
Example Sentence 1
Cruising eastbound, the pilot noticed the airport symbol ahead had changed from green to red on the graphical METAR display, prompting a check of the underlying text report.
Example Sentence 2
Graphical METAR data on the display showed improving conditions at several alternates along the route.