Definition
Routine surface weather observations issued at an airport, normally once per hour, in a standardized international code format. A METAR includes wind, visibility, present weather, sky condition, temperature, dew point, and altimeter setting, along with any significant remarks. When conditions change rapidly or unexpectedly between scheduled reports, a SPECI (special report) is issued in the same format.
Plain English
An hourly weather report from an airport, written in a short coded format that pilots learn to read. It tells you what the weather is doing at that airport right now.
Context Anchor
Seen in preflight weather briefings, aviation weather apps, dispatch systems, and weather checks for departure, destination, or alternate airports.
Derivation
METAR comes from the French aviation phrase Message d'Observation Météorologique Régulière pour l'Aviation, meaning 'routine aviation weather observation message.' The format is used worldwide so a pilot in any country can read a report from any other country.
Why Pilots Care
They supply the real-time data needed for go/no-go decisions, alternate planning, and safe approach execution.
Grounding Statement
A METAR tells you what the weather was at one reporting location at the observation time; it is not a forecast for later weather.
Intuition Check
Do not treat a METAR report as a forecast. It reports observed weather at a specific place and time.
Example Sentence 1
Before departure, she pulled up the METAR for the destination airport and saw that visibility had dropped to three miles in mist.
Example Sentence 2
A new METAR report showed the ceiling had lifted enough for the approach to become legal.