How to Read a METAR on Your Private Pilot Checkride (KORD Example)

Why Your DPE Will Hand You a METAR

Before you ever touch the throttle on checkride day, your Designated Pilot Examiner wants to know one thing: can you look at a weather report and make a safe go or no-go decision? The METAR — Meteorological Aerodrome Report — is the primary tool pilots use to assess current conditions at a specific airport, and decoding one fluently is a non-negotiable skill. The FAA covers METAR format in depth in Aviation Weather Services FAA-AC-00-45, under the chapter on Aviation Routine Weather Reports. If you have not read that section recently, now is the time.

Let us walk through a realistic example the way a DPE might present it: KORD 121755Z 27015G25KT 3SM -RA OVC008 14/11 A2989. Every group of characters tells a story, and by the end of this post you will be able to read that story out loud with confidence.

Breaking Down Every Element

KORD is the ICAO station identifier for Chicago O'Hare International Airport. The next group, 121755Z, is the observation time: the 12th day of the month at 1755 UTC, also called Zulu time. Always think in Zulu during your checkride — your DPE does not want to hear a local time conversion unless specifically asked.

The wind group, 27015G25KT, tells you winds are from 270 degrees — due west — at 15 knots, gusting to 25 knots. Gusty conditions matter for your crosswind calculations and for anticipating airspeed fluctuations on final approach. Next, 3SM is your visibility: 3 statute miles. This is a point where candidates stumble. In a US METAR, visibility is always reported in statute miles, not nautical miles and not kilometers. Three statute miles in a light-rain environment should immediately raise your awareness.

The weather phenomenon -RA confirms precipitation. The dash prefix means light intensity, and RA is the code for rain. So you have light rain at 3 statute miles visibility — conditions that are deteriorating and demand close attention.

Now the most commonly misread element in any METAR: OVC008. This means the sky is overcast, and the cloud height is 800 feet AGL — not 8,000 feet. The number in a METAR cloud group is always in hundreds of feet. OVC008 equals 8 times 100, which equals 800 feet above ground level. Misreading this as 8,000 feet is one of the most frequent errors on oral exams, and it is the kind of mistake that signals to a DPE that a candidate has not truly internalized the format.

The temperature and dew point group, 14/11, shows a temperature of 14 degrees Celsius and a dew point of 11 degrees Celsius. That three-degree spread is narrow, which tells you the atmosphere is already saturated enough to produce rain and that fog or further ceiling lowering is a real possibility. Finally, A2989 is your altimeter setting: 29.89 inches of mercury. Standard pressure is 29.92, so this setting is slightly below standard — a detail worth noting when you set your Kollsman window before departure.

Applying the METAR to a Go/No-Go Decision

Decoding individual elements is only half the task. Your DPE expects you to synthesize the information and draw an operational conclusion. Look at what you have: an 800-foot overcast ceiling with 3 statute miles of visibility in light rain. Under 14 CFR 91.155, basic VFR weather minimums in the airspace around most airports require at least a 1,000-foot ceiling and 3 statute miles of visibility. With a ceiling of only 800 feet, these conditions are below VFR minimums. You cannot legally depart VFR from KORD under these conditions.

If pressed on what would be required to fly, the answer is an IFR clearance and, of course, an instrument rating — which as a private pilot candidate you do not yet hold. The correct real-world decision is to delay departure, monitor updated METARs and TAFs, and wait for conditions to improve. Saying the weather looks acceptable because visibility is at 3 miles misses the ceiling entirely, and that is a critical error in judgment your examiner will call out immediately.

How to Present This Answer on Checkride Day

When your DPE hands you a METAR, do not rush. Work through it left to right, state each element clearly, and finish with a plain-language summary of what the conditions mean for flight. A strong answer sounds something like: This is a current observation from Chicago O'Hare on the 12th at 1755 Zulu. Winds are from the west at 15 gusting 25 knots, visibility is 3 statute miles in light rain, ceiling is overcast at 800 feet AGL, temperature 14 dew point 11, altimeter 29.89. These conditions are below VFR minimums due to the 800-foot ceiling, and I would not attempt a VFR departure. That answer demonstrates both technical knowledge and aeronautical decision-making — exactly what the Airman Certification Standards require.

One final note on the altimeter: do not just read 29.89 and move on. Acknowledge that it is below standard pressure and confirm you would set it in the aircraft before any flight operation. Small details like that separate candidates who pass from those who need to come back.

If you want to practice questions like this in a realistic oral exam format, try SimulatedCheckride.com.