A METAR is a coded aerodrome weather observation, issued every 30–60 minutes, reporting wind, visibility, cloud, temperature and pressure. Students learn to decode METARs early, and schools use them at dispatch to check flights against weather minima.
A METAR is a routine coded aerodrome weather observation, typically issued every 30 or 60 minutes, reporting wind, visibility, present weather, cloud amount and height, temperature, dew point and pressure — plus trend or remarks depending on the country. It is the standard answer to 'what is the weather at the field right now'.
METAR is an observation, not a forecast: it tells you conditions at issue time, and by the time a student reads it, it is already history. Training operations pair METARs with TAFs (forecasts) and use them against defined weather minima — student solo limits, VFR minima, crosswind limits per aircraft type — at both booking review and dispatch.
Why it matters for flight schools
METAR literacy is one of the first hard skills a student must build, and one of the first things a checkride or skill test oral probes. Operationally, the school's use matters more: dispatch decisions made against explicit minima using current METARs are defensible and consistent, while 'looks flyable' decisions vary by whoever is at the desk. When weather cancellations are logged against the METAR that drove them, the school also builds the dataset that makes seasonal scheduling smarter.
How FlightLogger handles it
FlightLogger lets schools encode their weather minima per activity type — solo, dual, rental — so dispatch decisions are checked against defined limits rather than desk-by-desk judgement.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between METAR and TAF?
A METAR reports observed conditions at a specific time; a TAF forecasts expected conditions over the next 24–30 hours. Dispatch uses METAR for 'can we go now' and TAF for 'will the 15:00 lesson be flyable'.
How current does a METAR need to be for dispatch?
Use the latest available observation — normally no older than an hour — and check the trend against the TAF. In fast-changing conditions, a SPECI (special observation) may supersede the routine METAR between issue times.