Wind direction: 160° true16014G22KT: the first three digits are the direction the wind blows from, in degrees true.
Wind speed: 14 knots16014G22KT: the next two digits are the speed in knots.
Gusts: 22 knots16014G22KT: G22 gives the gusts in knots.
Visibility: 10 or more statute miles10SM: prevailing visibility in statute miles; 10SM means 10 or more.
Ceiling: 600 feetOVC006: the lowest broken or overcast layer (or vertical visibility) is the ceiling; heights are in hundreds of feet above the ground.
Temperature: 16 °C16/15: temperature and dewpoint in whole degrees Celsius; M means minus.
Dewpoint: 15 °C16/15: temperature and dewpoint in whole degrees Celsius; M means minus.
Altimeter setting: 30.02 inHgA3002: the altimeter setting in hundredths of an inch of mercury.
Flight category: IFRIFR: ceiling 500 to below 1,000 ft and/or visibility 1 to below 3 statute miles. It comes from the ceiling and the visibility together; the lower category of the two applies.
Automated Fully automated report with no human observer
16014G22KT
Wind Wind from 160° at 14 knots, gusting to 22 knots
10SM
Visibility Visibility 10 statute miles
OVC006
Cloud layer Overcast at 600 ft above the ground — a ceiling
16/15
Temperature and dewpoint Temperature 16 °C (61 °F), dewpoint 15 °C (59 °F)
A3002
Altimeter Altimeter setting 30.02 inHg (1017 hPa)
RMK
Remarks Remarks follow
Remarks
Group
Meaning
AO2
Station type Automated station with a precipitation discriminator (it can tell rain from snow)
How the practice works
Each question is a real METAR from a US airport. Read it and type what it says into the fields: wind direction and speed, any gusts, visibility, ceiling, temperature, dewpoint, altimeter setting and the flight category. Choose Check answers to see which are right, with the correct value and the group it comes from, then open the full decode to read every group in plain English. Show answers reveals them without checking, and Next report moves to another report: the set has 145, with a mix of VFR, marginal VFR, IFR and low IFR.
Answers can be written the way you would on a knowledge test or a kneeboard: 1 1/2 or 1.5 for visibility, M02 or −2 for temperatures below zero, 29.92 or A2992 for the altimeter, VRB for a variable wind, and none when there are no gusts or no ceiling. Nothing you type leaves your browser.
Reading a METAR in order
The groups always come in the same order, so read them left to right:
Type, station and time. METAR or SPECI, the four-letter ICAO station, then the day and time in UTC (261755Z is the 26th at 17:55 Zulu).
Wind. Three digits of direction from true north, two or three of speed in knots, and G with the gust speed: 16014G22KT is from 160° at 14 knots, gusting 22. 00000KT is calm and VRB a variable direction.
Visibility. Prevailing visibility in statute miles in the United States: 10SM means 10 miles or more; 1 1/2SM is a mile and a half.
Weather. Intensity (− light, + heavy), then descriptor and phenomenon: −RA is light rain, BR mist, FG fog, TS thunderstorm.
Sky cover. FEW, SCT, BKN or OVC with the base in hundreds of feet above the ground, or VV for vertical visibility. The ceiling is the lowest BKN, OVC or VV layer.
Temperature and dewpoint. Whole degrees Celsius; M means minus. A small spread between them means fog or low cloud is likely.
Altimeter. A followed by the setting in hundredths of an inch of mercury: A2992 is 29.92.
Remarks. After RMK: the station type, sea-level pressure, exact temperatures and more.
True, not magnetic. METAR winds are from true north; the wind the tower or ATIS gives you is magnetic, like the runway numbers.
Hundreds of feet. OVC008 is 800 feet, not 8,000; OVC080 is 8,000.
FEW and SCT are not a ceiling. A sky of SCT004 BKN025 has a ceiling of 2,500 feet, even though cloud sits at 400.
The lower category wins. Ten miles of visibility under a 700-foot ceiling is IFR.
M is minus. M03/M07 means −3 °C with a dewpoint of −7 °C.
About the reports
The 145 reports are routine METARs from US airports in the Aviation Weather Center's public data cache on September 26, 2026, chosen to cover all four flight categories and plenty of gusts, weather and cloud layers. The answer key is the Aviation Weather Center parser's own value for each field, and each report was kept only where the site's METAR decoder agrees on every value asked. For today's weather at an airport, use the METAR and TAF lookup.
Sources
14 CFR 1.1, definition of ceiling, read October 11, 2026 (eCFR, current as of October 1, 2026).
FAA, Aeronautical Information Manual, 7-1-28 (Key to Aerodrome Forecast and Aviation Routine Weather Report), read October 1, 2026.
Aviation Weather Center data cache (aviationweather.gov), METARs and parsed values retrieved September 26, 2026.
Questions pilots ask
How do I practice reading METARs?
Read one report at a time and write down each value before you look anything up: the wind, visibility, weather, sky cover and ceiling, temperature and dewpoint, and altimeter setting, then work out the flight category. This page checks each answer against the report and explains the group it comes from.
Where do the practice reports come from?
They are 145 real routine METARs from airports in the United States, taken from the Aviation Weather Center's public data cache on September 26, 2026. The answers are the values the Aviation Weather Center's own parser recorded for each report, and the site's METAR decoder agrees with every one.
What counts as the ceiling in a METAR?
The lowest broken (BKN) or overcast (OVC) cloud layer, or the vertical visibility (VV) into an obscuration. FEW and SCT layers are not a ceiling. Heights are in hundreds of feet above the ground, so BKN008 is a ceiling of 800 feet.
How is the flight category decided?
From the ceiling and the visibility together, and the lower of the two decides. VFR: ceiling above 3,000 feet and visibility above 5 statute miles. Marginal VFR: ceiling 1,000 to 3,000 feet and/or visibility 3 to 5 miles. IFR: ceiling 500 to below 1,000 feet and/or visibility 1 to below 3 miles. Low IFR: ceiling below 500 feet and/or visibility below 1 mile.
Why does the answer give whole degrees when the remarks show tenths?
The temperature and dewpoint group in the body of the report, such as 16/15, gives whole degrees Celsius, and that is the value to read first. Many US reports repeat them in tenths in the remarks (T01560150 is 15.6 and 15.0 °C); an answer within half a degree is counted right.