Is a command line tool written in Go used for dumping the latest METAR observations either as a text product or as JSON.
You can also obtain the latest forecast from a US NWS Weather Forecast Office (WFO).
You can take the output and pipe or redirect it to a file for archiving.
This is the initial draft. The next version will allow you to decode a METAR string to a full text description. This will allow you to run the tool against an archived or saved JSON file and decode it. The decoding will work on live data as well.
You are even able to metar-tool --obs ktys | metar-tool --decode.
metar-tool --obs ktys
METAR KTYS 142253Z 21012KT 10SM BKN026 OVC034 07/04 A2968 RMK AO2 RAE04 SLP049 P0001 T00670039
metar-tool --obs ktys --json
[{"icaoId":"KTYS","receiptTime":"2026-01-14T22:56:53.763Z","obsTime":1768431180,"reportTime":"2026-01-14T23:00:00.000Z","temp":6.7,"dewp":3.9,"wdir":210,"wspd":12,"visib":"10+","altim":1005.2,"slp":1004.9,"qcField":4,"precip":0.01,"metarType":"METAR","rawOb":"METAR KTYS 142253Z 21012KT 10SM BKN026 OVC034 07/04 A2968 RMK AO2 RAE04 SLP049 P0001 T00670039","lat":35.818,"lon":-83.9857,"elev":300,"name":"Knoxville/Tyson Arpt, TN, US","cover":"OVC","clouds":[{"cover":"BKN","base":2600},{"cover":"OVC","base":3400}],"fltCat":"MVFR"}]
metar-tool --obs ktys -json -pretty
[
{
"altim": 1014.3,
"clouds": [
{
"base": 2300,
"cover": "FEW"
},
{
"base": 4000,
"cover": "FEW"
}
],
"cover": "FEW",
"dewp": -13.9,
"elev": 300,
"fltCat": "VFR",
"icaoId": "KTYS",
"lat": 35.818,
"lon": -83.9857,
"metarType": "METAR",
"name": "Knoxville/Tyson Arpt, TN, US",
"obsTime": 1768481580,
"qcField": 4,
"rawOb": "METAR KTYS 151253Z 31007KT 10SM FEW023 FEW040 M06/M14 A2995 RMK AO2 SLP148 T10561139",
"receiptTime": "2026-01-15T12:56:56.412Z",
"reportTime": "2026-01-15T13:00:00.000Z",
"slp": 1014.8,
"temp": -5.6,
"visib": "10+",
"wdir": 310,
"wspd": 7
}
]
metar-tool --forecast nws kmrx
MRX (Area Forecast Discussion) - issued
------------------------------------------------------------------------
000
FXUS64 KMRX 141802
AFDMRX
Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Morristown TN
102 PM EST Wed Jan 14 2026
...New DISCUSSION, AVIATION...
.KEY MESSAGES...
Updated at 100 PM EST Wed Jan 14 2026
- Significant accumulating snow is expected across the higher
elevations with lighter accumulations possible across portions
of the Plateau and Valley from late this afternoon and evening
through early Thursday morning.
...
# To archive an observation in local time
metar-tool --obs ktys --output "ktys-$(date +%Y%m%d-%H%M).txt"
# To archive an observation in UTC
metar-tool --obs ktys --output "ktys-$(date -u +%Y%m%d-%H%MZ).txt"
# Add --verbose to have file name announced
metar-tool --obs KTYS --output "ktys-$(date -u +%Y%m%d-%H%MZ).txt" --verbose
Writing output to ktys-20260115-1337Z.txt
# Piped decoding
metar-tool --obs ktys
METAR KTYS 200053Z 19007KT 10SM SCT065 SCT130 OVC250 19/13 A2969 RMK AO2 SLP046 T01940128
metar-tool --obs ktys | bin/metar-tool --decode
Station: KTYS
Report: METAR
Observed: 200053Z (DDHHMMZ)
Wind: 190° at 07 kt
Visibility: 10 statute miles
Sky: Scattered clouds at 6500 ft AGL, Scattered clouds at 13000 ft AGL, Overcast at 25000 ft AGL
Temp/Dew: 19°C / 13°C
Altimeter: 29.69 inHg
Remarks: AO2 SLP046 T01940128
Raw: METAR KTYS 200053Z 19007KT 10SM SCT065 SCT130 OVC250 19/13 A2969 RMK AO2 SLP046 T01940128
More work is needed in abbreviations and remarks.
METAR stands for METeorological Aerodrome Report. METAR is a format for weather reporting that is predominately used for pilots and meteorologists. These reports are issued at each reporting location every hour and are considered valid weather information for 1 hour.
You can read more at https://www.weather.gov/asos/METAR.html
METAR abbreviations can be found at https://www.weather.gov/media/wrh/mesowest/metar_decode_key.pdf
National Weather Service Weather Forecast Office (WFO), one of 122 local offices in the U.S. responsible for issuing timely, localized weather forecasts, watches, and warnings (like for severe storms or floods) for specific regions (County Warning Areas) to protect life and property, staffed by meteorologists 24/7
A list of WFO's with their designated codes can be found at https://www.weather.gov/nwr/wfo_nwr
make install by default will install into $HOME/.local.
To override this use something like sudo make install PREFIX=/usr/local
A Github Actions is planned. For now manual builds.
- Github actions builds with package release (ARM64, Windows 11, MacOS Silicon)
- NWS Weather Hazards text product (used by Skywarn to know when to activate)
- Set default location (lat & long)
- Decode airport and NWS WFO office abbreviations to human friendly locations
- Sunrise, Sunset and Moon Phase for location or your default
- Greyline times for location or your default
- Tides low, high and current for location or closest to your default
- Hurricane tracking (TBA)
- TBD