METAR-TYPE

METAR is the scheduled observation taken at the end of each hour. SPECI is an observation taken at an unscheduled time due to certain criteria that is met such as low visibility, low clouds, frozen precipitation, or thunderstorms.

KORD-Station ID

In this example, K refers to a North American Station and ORD is the three letter id for O' Hare (from Old Orchard, it's original name). Other examples are KRFD (Rockford Il), KAMA (Amarillo, TX) and KDEN (Denver, Co).

041656Z-Time and Date

The 04 represents the day of the month

The 1656 represents the time at which the observation went out

The Z represents that the time is in ZULU or UTC (Coordinated Universal Time). 19020G26KT-Winds

The 190 (the first three numbers) is the direction of the winds in degrees from 0 to 360 degrees (although you will never see 360 because after 350, it goes back to 0).

The 20 (next two numbers) is the speed of the winds in knots.

the G26 represents the wind gusts. In this case the gusts are 26 knots. Gust will not always be on here...there is criteria which must be met in order to have a gust. Simply, unless it's windy, you are not going to see gusts in the obsevation.

the KT simply means knots. It will always be at the end.

For winds speeds below 7 knots, you might see VRB005KT which means the wind direction is variable. This is the idea of "light and variable" that you might see in a forecast.

For winds greater than 6 knots you might see 18015KT 150V210. The winds are from 180 degrees at 15 knots, but the direction is actually variable between 150 degrees and 210 degrees. In order to be variable above 6 knots, the winds must have at least a 60 degree variation. 6SM-Visibility

The 6SM simply means 6 Statute Miles. Occasionally you might see visibility up to 20 or 30 SM but for the most part it will go from < 1/4 (vis below 1/4 SM) up to 10 SM. (-SHRA)-Present Weather and Obscurations

(-) is the designator for light. Precipitation will either be light (-), moderate ( ), or heavy (+) based on certain criteria that must be met. For more info on that criteria, please see the FMH-1 link at the bottom of this page. For now, just understand that it is simply the intensity of the snow, rain, hail, sleet, or freezing rain.

SH means showers and RA means rain. So the present weather is a light rain shower.

The following is from the FMH-1 HANDBOOK. The entire handbook is linked at the bottom of this page. QUALIFIER WEATHER PHENOMENA INTENSITY OR

PROXIMITY

1 DESCRIPTOR



2 PRECIPITATION



3 OBSCURATION



4 OTHER



5 - Light Moderate (see note 2) + Heavy VC In the Vicinity (see note 3) MI Shallow PR Partial BC Patches DR Low Drifting BL Blowing SH Shower(s) TS Thunderstorm FZ Freezing DZ Drizzle RA Rain SN Snow SG Snow Grains IC Ice Crystals PL Ice Pellets GR Hail GS Small Hail and/or Snow Pellets UP Unknown Precipitation BR Mist FG Fog FU Smoke VA Volcanic Ash DU Widespread Dust SA Sand HZ Haze PY Spray PO Well- Developed Dust/Sand Whirls SQ Squalls FC Funnel Cloud Tornado Waterspout (see note 3) SS Sandstorm SS Duststorm 1. The weather groups shall be constructed by considering columns 1 to 5 in the table above in sequence, i.e. intensity, followed by description, followed by weather phenomena, e.g. heavy rain shower(s) is coded as +SHRA 2. To denote moderate intensity no entry or symbol is used. 3. Tornados and waterspouts shall be coded as +FC. BKN070-Sky Condition

BKN represents a broken sky. (The clouds cover 5/8 to 7/8 of the sky)

070 represents the clouds are at 7,000 feet (simply add 2 zeroes to get the height)

The cloud cover will either be FEW (1/8 TO 2/8 cloud coverage), SCT (SCATTERED, 3/8 TO 4/8 cloud coverage, BKN (5/8-7/8 coverage), and OVC (OVERCAST, 8/8 Coverage).

You will often have more than 1 designator (i.e. SCT035 BKN090 OVC140)

An indefinite ceiling caused by fog, rain, snow, etc., will require a designator as VV (Vertical Visibility). VV is the how high you can see vertically into the indefinate ceiling.

Significant Clouds such as TCU (Towering Cumulus), CB, (Cumulonimbus, or a shower/thunderstorm), or ACC (Altocumulus Castellanus) will be found on the en of a category (i.e. SCT035TCU) 12/08-Temperature and Dewpoint

12represents the temperature in Celsius

08represents the dewpoint in Celsius

If the temperature or dewpoint falls below 0 there will be an "M" before it (i.e. 03/M02). "M" means minus. 30.16-Altimeter/Pressure

A simply stands for Altimeter