Weather questions are the third-most-tested topic on the FAA Part 107 exam — and they trip up more candidates than airspace and regulations combined. The reason isn't that weather is hard. It's that the FAA expects you to read a METAR — a coded weather report that looks like a license plate from another planet on first glance.
If that looks like gibberish, you're not alone. But once you understand the structure, you can decode any METAR in under 30 seconds. Here's how.
A METAR (Meteorological Aerodrome Report) is a standardized hourly weather observation issued by airports worldwide. Pilots use them to check current conditions before a flight. The format is the same everywhere — once you can read one, you can read all of them.
For Part 107 purposes, you need to know:
The FAA tests this directly. You'll likely see 2–4 METAR-based questions on your exam.
Every METAR follows the same structure, in the same order. Once you memorize the order, you just read left to right:
Let's decode our example METAR field by field:
The first four characters are the airport's ICAO code. In the contiguous US, these always start with K. So KMSL is the K-prefix for MSL (Northwest Alabama Regional / Muscle Shoals). KATL is Atlanta. KLAX is Los Angeles. KJFK is New York Kennedy.
If you see a code that doesn't start with K, it's outside the contiguous US — Alaska codes start with PA, Hawaii with PH, Canada with C.
This breaks into two pieces:
The Z is important. METARs always report time in UTC, not local time. To convert to local, subtract your time zone offset. For Central Daylight Time (UTC−5), 17:53Z is 12:53 PM CDT.
This is the trickiest field. Read it in three chunks:
If you see 28012KT (no G), the wind is steady at 12 knots from 280°. The G18 indicates gusts. If wind is calm (under 3 knots), the report says 00000KT. If wind direction is variable, you'll see VRB05KT (variable at 5 knots).
This is simple. 10SM means 10 statute miles of visibility — the maximum value (anything over 10 miles is just reported as 10).
You might see 3SM (3 miles) or 1/2SM (half a mile) in worse conditions. For Part 107 operations, you need at least 3 statute miles of visibility to fly legally.
Our example doesn't have any, but if conditions warrant, you'll see codes like:
A minus sign means light; a plus sign means heavy; no sign means moderate.
Cloud cover comes in five categories, written as three-letter codes followed by altitude in hundreds of feet AGL:
So SCT250 means scattered clouds at 25,000 feet AGL. Add two zeros to the number to get the altitude in feet.
For Part 107 operations, you need a cloud ceiling of at least 500 feet below your operating altitude and 2,000 feet horizontal distance from clouds. A high scattered layer at 25,000 feet doesn't affect you. A BKN015 (broken at 1,500 feet) might.
The format is temperature/dew_point in Celsius. So:
When temperature and dew point converge (within 2°C of each other), expect fog or low clouds. A 22/M01 spread is wide — about 23°C apart — meaning the air is dry. No fog risk.
The A is the altimeter prefix. The number is the barometric pressure in inches of mercury, with an implied decimal: 3012 = 30.12 inHg.
For Part 107, you don't typically need to set an altimeter (your drone doesn't have one). But the FAA still tests recognition of the format. Standard pressure is 29.92 inHg. Lower numbers (like 29.50) indicate a low-pressure system — often associated with worse weather.
| Code | Meaning |
|---|---|
| KT | Knots |
| SM | Statute miles |
| Z | Zulu time (UTC) |
| M | Minus (negative temperature) |
| G | Gust |
| VRB | Variable wind direction |
| SKC / CLR | Sky clear |
| FEW | Few clouds |
| SCT | Scattered clouds |
| BKN | Broken clouds |
| OVC | Overcast |
| RA | Rain |
| SN | Snow |
| TS | Thunderstorm |
| FG | Fog |
| BR | Mist |
| HZ | Haze |
| RMK | Remarks section follows |
A METAR is a current observation. A TAF (Terminal Aerodrome Forecast) is a forecast of expected conditions over the next 24–30 hours.
The Part 107 exam tests both. The key difference:
TAFs use much of the same coding as METARs, plus time period indicators like FM1200 (from 12:00 UTC) and TEMPO (temporary conditions). Master METARs first — TAFs become much easier once the basic vocabulary is solid.
Try decoding this one yourself before reading the answer:
Answer:
Should you fly a drone in this? No. Cloud ceiling at 1,200 feet means you'd need to stay below 700 feet, and the 1-degree temperature/dew point spread means fog is rolling in. Visibility is also dropping toward the legal minimum. Bad day to fly.
If you can hit those three points consistently, you'll get the METAR questions right on your Part 107 exam.
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