From 2011 to today
METAR Reader has decoded aviation weather since 2011. What began as a single, purpose-built decoder has been rebuilt and expanded across three generations, each one faster and able to read more of what a real report contains. Today it is used by pilots, flight schools, dispatchers, cockpit crews, and flight-sim communities around the world.
The version you are using is the third generation: a complete rebuild on a new decode engine, with TAF decoding alongside METAR. The earlier build still runs in parallel for now, while this one takes over.
A purpose-built decode engine
At its core is a decode engine written specifically for the job. The current generation is a ground-up rewrite. It is markedly faster than the engine it replaces, and recognises far more of the structure a METAR or TAF can carry, down to the individual groups. Hover any group (wind, visibility, cloud, remarks) and the report explains itself, field by field. The engine is actively maintained as reporting formats and the stations themselves change.
What it is for
METAR Reader does two things well. It gives you a fast, fully decoded read of current conditions at any reporting station in the world. And it helps you learn the format itself: the decoded panels are written to be legible and teachable, and the Decode tool runs any raw METAR or TAF through the same engine, so you can check your own reading on the spot.
Weather data is sourced from NOAA / NWS.
Who is behind it
METAR Reader is built and maintained by Ferdi Willemse, who has developed it continuously since 2011. It has run without interruption for more than a decade, and this rebuild is the foundation for where it goes next.