Request and decode METAR weather data with multiple options.
This simple program will display the METAR for an airport, or range of airports (such as the departure and arrival airports) by specifying the ICAO. An optional time range can be given to get the weather for a specific time. The program can parse the raw METAR and translate it into a formatted output in plain English describing the conditions for ease of use in flight planning.
Uses the NOAA Aviation Weather Center's ADDS API for requests.
Fork the repository or download the latest release. Then from the root directory run pip install -r requirements.txt to install the required libraries. Requires Python 3.5+.
py metar.py <ICAO> [<start> <end>] [--raw] [--help]
By default the program will decode the METAR and output a simplified description of the conditions. The raw METAR text can be viewed with the --raw or -r flag.
An optional time range may be provided (up to 3 days old) to see all METAR reports between the start and end times. This accepts many formats shown in the examples below. Note that when providing both a date and a time, it must be quoted in a single string.
If the request is valid the program will display the results in the output window. This includes a header with the ICAO, date and time of the current METAR. This is followed by a summary of the conditions, such as VFR/IFR and any significant weather remarks. The wind, temperature, visibility and atmospheric pressure is also shown, in the correct format depending on region (inHg in the US, millibars elsewhere). Finally, a summary of the sky conditions is given, with the cloud cover and alititude for the base and ceiling layers (if present).
To get the current metar for KLAX - Los Angeles:
py metar.py KLAX
This will automatically request the most recent METAR from the past hour if no other parameters are provided.
To request all METARs between 11AM and 3PM today:
py metar.py KLAX 11:00 15:00
To only see the --raw METAR text between 08 Aug, 3PM and 10 Aug, 12PM:
py metar.py KLAX "08 Aug 15:00" "10 Aug 12:00"
More examples:
py metar.py KLAX 11h 12h
py metar.py KLAX "08 11:00" "08 15:00"
py metar.py KLAX "2017-08-18 11:00:00" "2017-08-20 16:30:00" --raw
Requesting the --raw text will simply provide the METAR string straight from the API.
py metar.py KLAX --raw
will return
KLAX 292253Z 25010KT 9SM FEW100 FEW150 26/19 A2975 RMK AO2 SLP073 T02610189
Which can result in a decoded output:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
METAR for KLAX
Tue Aug 2017, 22:53:00
Conditions: VFR --
Wind: 250 degrees at 10 kts Temperature: 26.1C Visibility: 9.0sm Pressure: 29.75 inHg
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sky conditions:
CLOUD ALT (FT)
BASE Few 10000
CEILING Few 15000