How to read METAR and TAF reports for the Part 107 test

A METAR is an observation of current weather at an airport; a TAF is a forecast for the area within 5 statute miles of the airport. Both read left to right in a fixed order, and for Part 107 the elements that matter most are wind, visibility and cloud heights.

METAR and TAF in one sentence each

The FAA Aviation Weather Handbook says a METAR "includes the airport identifier, time of observation, wind, visibility, Runway Visual Range (RVR), present weather phenomena, sky conditions, temperature, dewpoint, and altimeter setting." METARs are produced near the top of every hour; a SPECI is an unscheduled report issued between hourly reports when set criteria are met, such as a wind shift or visibility dropping below set values.

A TAF is "a concise statement of the expected meteorological conditions significant to aviation for a specified time period within 5 SM of the center of the airport's runway complex (terminal)." Most TAFs cover 24 hours; some major airports get 30 hours.

Weather counts for 5% of the scored questions on the UAG test, per the PSI bulletin, but weather also decides whether a flight meets 14 CFR 107.51.

A sample METAR, decoded element by element

This is a made-up report for practice:

METAR KXYZ 141853Z 31012G22KT 4SM -RA BR BKN009 OVC020 12/10 A2996

Group	Meaning
METAR	Routine hourly report (SPECI for a special report)
KXYZ	Station identifier in ICAO format. In the contiguous US it is K plus the three-letter identifier.
141853Z	14th day of the month, 1853 UTC. Z means Zulu (UTC) time.
31012G22KT	Wind from 310 degrees true at 12 knots, gusting to 22 knots
4SM	Visibility 4 statute miles
-RA BR	Light rain, mist
BKN009	Broken clouds at 900 feet AGL. This is the ceiling.
OVC020	Overcast at 2,000 feet AGL
12/10	Temperature 12°C, dewpoint 10°C
A2996	Altimeter setting 29.96 inches of mercury

For a Part 107 flight: visibility of 4 SM meets the 3 SM minimum, but with a cloud base at 900 feet AGL and a 500-foot below-cloud requirement, the small UA could go no higher than 400 feet AGL, and only if the gusts are within what your aircraft can handle.

Wind: direction, speed and gusts

The handbook says the wind group "indicates the direction the wind is coming from", coded in three digits "relative to true north", followed by speed in knots. Gusts are "rapid fluctuations in wind speed with a variation of 10 kt or more between peaks and lulls", and the coded gust is the maximum instantaneous wind speed.

VRB04KT: variable direction, 4 knots. VRB is used when the speed is 6 knots or less.
24012KT 200V280: wind 240 at 12, direction varying between 200 and 280 degrees. This group is used when the direction varies by 60 degrees or more and the speed is greater than 6 knots.
00000KT: calm.

Visibility and present weather

Visibility is "the greatest horizontal distance at which selected objects can be seen and identified, or its equivalent derived from instrumental measurements." In US reports it is in statute miles, with a space between a whole number and a fraction: 1 1/2SM. Automated stations use M for "less than": M1/4SM.

Present weather is built from intensity, then descriptor, then the weather itself. - is light, no sign is moderate, + is heavy. Common codes: RA rain, SN snow, DZ drizzle, BR mist, FG fog, HZ haze, TS thunderstorm, SH showers, FZ freezing. VC means in the vicinity, between 5 and 10 statute miles from the point of observation. So +TSRA is a thunderstorm with heavy rain, and VCSH is showers in the vicinity.

Clouds and the ceiling

Each cloud layer is an amount followed by a height in hundreds of feet AGL:

Code	Meaning	Sky covered
SKC / CLR	Clear (CLR: automated station, no layers at or below 12,000 ft)	0
FEW	Few	1/8 to 2/8
SCT	Scattered	3/8 to 4/8
BKN	Broken	5/8 to 7/8
OVC	Overcast	8/8
VV	Vertical visibility into an obscured sky	8/8

The handbook defines the ceiling: "The ceiling is the lowest layer aloft reported as broken or overcast. If the sky is totally obscured with ground-based clouds, the vertical visibility is the ceiling." In FEW005 SCT015 BKN040 the ceiling is 4,000 feet, not 500. CB after a height means cumulonimbus, and TCU means towering cumulus.

Temperature, dewpoint and altimeter

Temperature and dewpoint are whole degrees Celsius; M means minus, so 04/M02 is 4°C with a dewpoint of -2°C. Dewpoint is "the temperature to which a given parcel of air must be cooled at constant pressure and constant water vapor content for the air to become fully saturated." The altimeter group starts with A and drops the decimal point: A3012 is 30.12 inches of mercury. Remarks, if any, follow RMK at the end.

A sample TAF, decoded

Another made-up example:

TAF KXYZ 141730Z 1418/1518 22010KT P6SM SCT050
FM142200 25015G25KT 5SM -SHRA BKN030
TEMPO 1500/1503 2SM TSRA BKN015CB
FM150600 30008KT P6SM SKC

141730Z: issued on the 14th at 1730 UTC.
1418/1518: valid from the 14th at 1800 UTC to the 15th at 1800 UTC.
22010KT P6SM SCT050: wind 220 true at 10 knots, visibility greater than 6 statute miles, scattered clouds at 5,000 feet AGL.
FM142200: from the 14th at 2200 UTC, a new set of conditions replaces everything before it. The handbook says "all forecast conditions given before the FM group are superseded by those following the group."
TEMPO 1500/1503: between 0000 and 0300 UTC on the 15th, temporary thunderstorms with rain, 2 SM visibility and a broken cumulonimbus layer at 1,500 feet.
FM150600: from 0600 UTC on the 15th, wind 300 at 8 knots, visibility over 6 SM, sky clear.

TAF change groups: FM, TEMPO and PROB30

FM marks a lasting change, and every FM group repeats wind, visibility and clouds even if they have not changed. TEMPO describes fluctuations the handbook says are expected to "Have a high percentage (greater than 50 percent) probability of occurrence", "Last for one hour or less in each instance" and "In the aggregate, cover less than half of the period". Elements not listed in a TEMPO group stay as forecast. PROB30 is a "low-probability occurrence (30 percent chance) of a thunderstorm or precipitation event" during the stated hours.

Three TAF details differ from METARs: visibility above 6 SM is written P6SM, clear sky is SKC (CLR is not used), and WS marks low-level wind shear. All times are UTC, so convert to local time before planning.

Fly Part 107 is a free practice site for the UAG knowledge test. It has 520 questions with an explanation for every answer, including 120 chart questions built on ten current FAA sectionals (October 29, 2026 edition) with zoom, plus the Chart Trainer, the Read the Question trainer and a cited cheat sheet. Its weather questions use full METAR and TAF strings like the ones on this page. A one-time $49 payment gives lifetime access to full 60-question practice tests with 5 unscored items.

Try these practice questions

A remote pilot reviews this report before a survey flight: METAR KXYZ 141753Z 18015G25KT 3SM -RA BKN008 OVC015 18/16 A2992. What is the highest wind speed the report indicates?

15 knots, the two-minute average speed
25 knots, the peak gust
40 knots, the gust added to the average

Show the answer

Answer: B. B is correct: in 18015G25KT, 15 is the average wind speed and the number after G is the gust. The Aviation Weather Handbook states that the coded speed of the gust is the maximum instantaneous wind speed, so the highest speed reported is 25 knots. A is wrong: 15 knots is the average speed, not the highest speed in the report. C is wrong: the gust value is the peak speed itself, not an amount added to the average, so the peak is 25 knots, not 40.