Definition
KEAU is the four-letter ICAO location identifier for Chippewa Valley Regional Airport, located in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, United States. It is used in flight plans, weather reports (METARs and TAFs), NOTAMs, and other aviation communications to uniquely identify this airport worldwide.
Plain English
KEAU is the official code that identifies the airport at Eau Claire, Wisconsin. When you see KEAU in a weather report or flight plan, it means that specific airport.
Context Anchor
Seen at the beginning of aviation weather reports such as METARs and TAFs, and anywhere the source needs to identify the exact airport station.
Derivation
Under ICAO conventions, airports in the contiguous United States are assigned a four-letter identifier beginning with K, followed by the three-letter FAA identifier. The FAA identifier for Eau Claire is EAU, so the ICAO version becomes KEAU. The 'EAU' portion comes from the city name Eau Claire (French for 'clear water').
Why Pilots Care
Pilots reference this code to obtain accurate local weather for flight planning and instrument approach decisions.
Intuition Check
Do not read KEAU as a weather condition or as a word to pronounce. It is a location code that names the reporting airport.
Example Sentence 1
Before departure, the pilot pulled the latest METAR for KEAU to check ceilings and visibility at Eau Claire.
Example Sentence 2
KEAU reported light rain and 4 miles visibility in the current observation.