How to Read a METAR and TAF for the Part 107 Test, Group by Group

Weather is a small slice of the UAG test, 5% of the questions under PSI's 2025 specifications, or about 3 of 60. But METAR and TAF codes are a language most new remote pilots have never seen, and the testing supplement the center hands you includes figures for both (Figure 12 for METARs, Figure 15 for TAFs). Once you know the order of the groups, every report reads the same way.

This guide follows the FAA's current Aviation Weather Handbook (FAA-H-8083-28B, signed April 2, 2026), which describes U.S. coding. All example reports below were written by Passy for practice. The station KXYZ is made up.

METAR or TAF: what each one tells a remote pilot

The handbook says NWS offices issue TAFs for nearly 700 U.S. airports, so many small fields have a METAR but no TAF.

Decoding a METAR group by group

Here is a Passy example:

METAR KXYZ 141853Z 21012G22KT 6SM -RA BR BKN008 OVC015 17/15 A2988 RMK AO2

The details that questions turn on:

• Wind is where it comes from, relative to true north. Three digits for direction in tens of degrees, two or three for speed in knots. G marks gusts, defined as a variation of 10 knots or more between peaks and lulls. VRB means variable, for speeds of 6 knots or less. A group like 180V250 after the wind means the direction varied by 60 degrees or more at more than 6 knots. 00000KT is calm.
• Visibility is in statute miles, with a space between whole numbers and fractions (1 1/2SM). U.S. automated stations put an M in front to mean "less than," so M1/4SM is less than a quarter mile.
• Weather codes stack in a fixed order: intensity or proximity, then descriptor, then the phenomenon. Minus is light, no sign is moderate, plus is heavy. VC means in the vicinity, 5 to 10 statute miles from the station. TS is thunderstorm, SH shower, FZ freezing, RA rain, SN snow, DZ drizzle, GR hail, BR mist, FG fog, HZ haze, FU smoke.
• Sky cover is in eighths. FEW is 1/8 to 2/8, SCT 3/8 to 4/8, BKN 5/8 to 7/8, OVC 8/8. The three digits that follow are the cloud base in hundreds of feet above ground. CB or TCU after a layer marks cumulonimbus or towering cumulus.
• CLR and SKC aren't the same. CLR is used by automated stations and means no clouds detected at or below 12,000 feet. SKC means an observer saw no layers.
• VV is vertical visibility into an obscuration such as fog. VV002 means you can see 200 feet up into it.
• An M before a temperature means minus. M05/M10 is -5 °C with a dewpoint of -10 °C.

Finding the ceiling in a METAR

The handbook defines the ceiling as the lowest layer aloft reported as broken or overcast. If the sky is totally obscured, the vertical visibility is the ceiling. FEW and SCT layers are never the ceiling, however low they are.

In the example above, the ceiling is 800 feet (BKN008), not 1,500 feet. In FEW004 SCT012 OVC030, the ceiling is 3,000 feet, even though there are clouds at 400.

Turning a METAR into a Part 107 go or no-go

14 CFR 107.51 sets two weather limits you can check against a report:

• Visibility of at least 3 statute miles, measured as flight visibility from the control station.
• Cloud clearance of at least 500 feet below and 2,000 feet horizontally from any cloud.

One difference to keep in mind: a METAR reports surface visibility at the station, while 107.51 is about flight visibility from your control station. AC 107-2A treats local aviation weather reports as one means of determining visibility and cloud clearance, not the only one.

Applied to the example (Passy's reading, not an FAA ruling): 6 statute miles passes the visibility limit. The lowest cloud base is 800 feet above ground at the station, so keeping 500 feet below it means staying at or below about 300 feet above ground near the station. The gusts to 22 knots are a separate question for your aircraft's wind limits.

Two cautions from AC 107-2A. Use the closest reporting station that best represents the terrain where you'll fly, because a METAR describes the station, not your site. And if no local aviation report is available, you can't fly until you determine visibility and cloud clearance by other reliable means.

A second Passy example, the kind that should end the decision quickly:

SPECI KXYZ 030712Z AUTO 00000KT 1/2SM FG VV002 08/08 A3012 RMK AO2

A special automated report on the 3rd at 0712 UTC: calm wind, half a mile of visibility in fog, vertical visibility 200 feet, which is the ceiling. Temperature and dewpoint are both 8 °C, so the air is saturated. Visibility is below 3 statute miles, so a Part 107 flight isn't allowed in these conditions.

Weather codes reward short, frequent drills, and the 23 Weather flashcards planned for Part 107 prep are built for that kind of recall once full prep opens.

Decoding a TAF and its change groups

A Passy example TAF, laid out the way the handbook describes NWS TAFs: each FM and TEMPO group starts a new line, and a PROB30 group sits on the same line as the forecast period it belongs to:

TAF KXYZ 141730Z 1418/1518 18010KT P6SM SCT040
     FM142200 23015G25KT 5SM -SHRA BKN025
     TEMPO 1423/1501 2SM TSRA BKN015CB
     FM150400 VRB03KT P6SM SKC PROB30 1506/1510 4SM -RA OVC030
     FM151200 20008KT P6SM FEW050

How the change groups differ, per the handbook:

• FM (from) marks a significant change in prevailing conditions expected to happen over less than an hour, and the full forecast that follows replaces everything before it until the next FM.
• TEMPO is for temporary fluctuations with a better than 50% chance, each lasting an hour or less, together covering less than half of the stated period. Only the elements that change are listed.
• PROB30 is a 30% chance of a thunderstorm or precipitation event. It is the only probability group the NWS uses in U.S. TAFs.

Other TAF codes worth knowing: P6SM means more than 6 statute miles. The only cloud type a TAF includes is CB. TAFs use SKC for a clear sky, never CLR. VC means 5 to 10 statute miles from the center of the runway complex.

For a remote pilot planning an evening flight at KXYZ, the forecast puts gusts to 25 knots from 2200 UTC, and temporary thunderstorms from 2300 to 0100 UTC with 2 miles of visibility, below the Part 107 minimum of 3.

Converting Zulu time for a Part 107 flight

All METAR and TAF times are UTC. Convert before you plan: Eastern Daylight Time is UTC minus 4 hours, so 2200Z is 6:00 p.m. EDT, and Pacific Daylight Time is UTC minus 7, so the same 2200Z is 3:00 p.m. PDT. In winter, standard time adds one more hour of difference (EST is UTC minus 5). Remember that the date in the report is the UTC date. A 0100Z time can still be the previous evening in the U.S.

Where to get METARs and TAFs before a flight

AC 107-2A points remote pilots to the National Weather Service's Aviation Weather Center at aviationweather.gov, which needs no registration, and to Flight Service at 1800wxbrief.com, where you can create a free account. It adds that Flight Service's telephone briefing service is intended for manned aircraft pilots. Many websites show a decoded version, but the handbook says pilots should still be able to decode the raw report.

If your scores on weather items lag, ask AI Rescue for a fresh practice question once full Part 107 prep opens. Today, the free Part 107 practice questions include weather items with explanations.

Practicing METAR and TAF decoding

A practical routine, not an FAA requirement:

1. Pull today's METAR and TAF for an airport near you on aviationweather.gov and decode every group on paper before looking at the decoded version.
2. Find the ceiling, then write the Part 107 verdict: visibility pass or fail, highest altitude that keeps 500 feet below the base.
3. Convert every TAF time to your local time.
4. Finish with the METAR and TAF figures in the testing supplement, since test questions may point you to them.

Weather effects, such as density altitude and thunderstorm stages, are a different ACS task. The Part 107 weather and performance guide covers them, and the Part 107 numbers guide lists every limit in one place. To see how weather fits a full schedule, read the Part 107 study plan guide, and when you're ready to practice the whole area, the 43 Weather questions planned for Part 107 prep are sorted by content area.