METAR & TAF Lookup
Live aviation weather reports for Southampton, the Solent area and beyond • data from the NOAA/FAA Aviation Weather Center
EGHH - Bournemouth
Trends built from 698 reports spanning about 428 hours. This starts shallow (limited to the public feed's short rolling window) but deepens automatically the longer this station's tabs get visited, since every report is added to a permanent local log.
What Is a METAR?
METAR (Météorologique Aviation Régulière - Aviation Routine Weather Report) is the international standard format for airport weather observations, typically issued once an hour (or more often as conditions change) by both automated and human-augmented stations worldwide. TAF (Terminal Aerodrome Forecast) is the matching short-range forecast format for the same airports. Both were adopted internationally from 1996 onward, replacing the older US "SA"/"FT" codes, specifically so that observations and forecasts could be read the same way by pilots and systems anywhere in the world.
Quick Decode Key
The group-by-group layout of a typical report, based on the NOAA/NWS
quick reference guide for automated (ASOS) stations. UK & Irish stations follow the same international
groups, with two regional differences worth knowing: visibility is usually shown as a 4-digit metres value
(e.g. 9999 = 10km+) rather than statute miles, and altimeter setting is shown as Q
+ hectopascals (e.g. Q1016) rather than A + inches of mercury.
| Group | What it means | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Report type | METAR = routine hourly/half-hourly report; SPECI = unscheduled special report issued when conditions change significantly | METAR |
| Station | Four-letter ICAO identifier | EGHI |
| Date/Time | Day of month + time, always UTC, always ending in Z | 092120Z |
| Modifier | AUTO = fully automated, no human observer has reviewed/augmented it; absent = observer-augmented; COR = correction to an earlier report | AUTO |
| Wind | Direction (degrees true) + speed in knots, G + number for gusts, KT confirms knots; 00000KT = calm; a following dddVddd group shows the direction is varying | 13012G20KT 100V160 |
| Visibility | 4-digit metres (international) or miles+SM (US); 9999/"6SM+" = 10km/6mi or better | 9999 |
| Weather | Up to 3 groups: intensity (- light, none = moderate, + heavy or VC nearby) + a 2-letter phenomenon code (see table below) | -RA BR |
| Sky condition | FEW/SCT/BKN/OVC + height in hundreds of feet per layer; NCD/NSC = no cloud detected/no significant cloud (automated-station equivalent of clear skies); CAVOK replaces the visibility/weather/cloud groups entirely when conditions are good enough (10km+ vis, no cloud below 5000ft, no significant weather) | BKN015 OVC025 |
| Temperature/Dew point | Whole °C, separated by a slash; M prefix = sub-zero | 23/17 |
| Altimeter | Q + hectopascals (international) or A + inches of mercury ×100 (US) | Q1016 |
Remarks (RMK) | Extra detail beyond the main body - peak wind, pressure tendency, precipitation totals, sensor-status flags and more (see below) | RMK PK WND 20032/25 |
Common Weather & Sky Codes
| Code | Meaning | Code | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
RA | Rain | SN | Snow |
DZ | Drizzle | SH | Showers |
TS | Thunderstorm | GR/GS | Hail / small hail |
FG | Fog | FZFG | Freezing fog |
BR | Mist | HZ | Haze |
PL/IC | Ice pellets / ice crystals | FZ (prefix) | Freezing, e.g. FZRA freezing rain |
VC | In the vicinity (nearby, not at the station) | SQ | Squall |
FEW | Few clouds (1-2 oktas) | SCT | Scattered (3-4 oktas) |
BKN | Broken (5-7 oktas) | OVC | Overcast (8 oktas) |
CLR/SKC | Clear (human-observed) | NCD/NSC | No cloud detected / no significant cloud (automated) |
VV | Vertical visibility (indefinite ceiling, e.g. thick fog) | CAVOK | Ceiling & Visibility OK |
Common Remarks (RMK) Codes
| Code | Meaning |
|---|---|
AO1 / AO2 | Automated station without / with a precipitation discriminator (can tell rain from snow) |
PK WND dddff/(hh)mm | Peak wind direction/speed and the time it occurred |
WSHFT (hh)mm | Wind shift at the given time |
SLPppp | Sea-level pressure (tenths of hPa, last 3 digits only) |
PRESRR / PRESFR | Pressure rising / falling rapidly |
Prrrr | Precipitation in the last hour (hundredths of an inch, US stations) |
TsnTTTsnTTT | Precise tenths-of-a-degree temperature/dew point (more accurate than the whole-degree figure in the main body) |
TSNO / RVRNO / PWINO / PNO | That particular sensor (thunderstorm detector / RVR / precip identifier / precip amount) isn't available right now |
$ | Maintenance check indicator - the station itself is flagging that it needs a service visit |
Adapted from the NOAA/NWS "Content of ASOS-Generated METAR" quick reference guide and the accompanying METAR/TAF abbreviations list. The full original PDF (with the complete A-Z abbreviations index) is still available here for reference.