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METAR-mind

Learn to read advanced weather forecasts with this puzzling codebreaking activity.

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You’ll need

  • Scissors
  • Pens or pencils
  • Scrap paper
METAR riddles
PDF – 142.2KB
Download METAR riddles

Before you begin

  • Use the safety checklist to help you plan and risk assess your activity. There’s also more guidance to help you carry out your risk assessment including examples.
  • Make sure all young people and adults involved in the activity know how to take part safely.
  • Make sure you’ll have enough adult helpers. You may need some parents and carers to help.   

Planning and setting up this activity 

  • Print or display a daily weather forecast. You could print off today’s charts via the met office. Make sure to include the key.
  • You’ll need to print off enough ‘METAR riddles’ sheets for everyone, cut them along the middle so each group has the six riddles.. 
  • If you'd like to compare more maps you could also look at surface pressure charts or live METAR data. 

A METAR is a Meteorological Terminal Aviation Routine weather report.

METARs are routinely issued at over 50 UK airports. They give a snapshot of current weather conditions, including wind speed and direction, visibility, weather, cloud cover, temperature and air pressure.

METARs are provided in a coded format. To fully understand them, it helps to learn what the different parts of the code mean. 

Making a weather forecast can be difficult and the methods are always being updated.

There are three main steps:

  • Find out what the weather is doing right now
  • Work out how it will change
  • Use expert knowledge to make the forecast more accurate

To predict the weather, scientists first need to know exactly what's happening now. They get weather information from all over the world, all day and night, using special tools and satellites. This is called making observations.

The weather forecasting centres have huge supercomputers, which use these observations as ‘starting conditions’ for very complex equations which can predict where the weather will move, and how it will evolve as time goes on. 

These computer models are used several times a day. Weather experts check the results and make changes if needed. . For example, if the temperature is slightly lower than expected that can mean the difference between frost or not by the end of the night, and whether a lorry needs to go out and grit a road.  

You can read more about this from the MET office, which also has a video you can watch. 

  

Running this activity 

  1. Split everyone into small groups and show each group a weather forecast for a specific location..
  2. Ask each group to decide whether they would choose to fly in this weather, and explain why.
  3. Encourage them to look closely at the weather details to back up their decision.
  4. Use the following prompts to help guide their thoughts. 
    • Wind: 
      • How is wind described? (e.g. "strong winds from the south-west") 
      • Could it make take-off or landing dangerous? 
    • Visibility: 
      • Can you see how far ahead the forecast says you’ll be able to see? 
      • Would poor visibility affect your decision? 
    • Clouds:
      •  Are clouds mentioned? How high or thick are they? 
      • Could cloud cover affect a pilot’s view? 
    • Other conditions: 
      • Is it raining, snowing, foggy or stormy? 
      • Would these cause delays or cancellations? 
    • Missing information: 
      • Is there anything you wish the forecast told you but doesn’t? 
      • Once each group has made a decision, invite them to share it with everyone and explain their reasoning.
  5. The person leading the activity should explain to the group that pilots do not just use normal weather forecasts. They also use special coded reports called METARs to understand the weather at airports. A METAR shows the current weather.
    • A TAF (Terminal Aerodrome Forecast) is similar but shows what the weather is expected to be later on. 

METAR-MIND

  1. Choose someone to be the Code Master. This could be the activity leader, a helper, or someone who already knows about METARs. This could be the leader, a helper, or someone who knows METARs. They will need the answer sheet for the riddles, either on paper or a device.
  2. Split the rest of the group into small teams of about four people.
  3. Give each team some scrap paper, pens, and the METAR riddles sheet. Ask them to cut out the riddles along the dotted lines.
  4. Each team can then try to solve the riddles.
  5. When they think they have an answer, one person from the team should check with the Code Master. If it is right, they can write the answer on the riddle card.
  6. Once all riddles are solved, each group should now try to put the pieces of the METAR in the correct order. 
  7. They can jot down their guess on a scrap piece of paper. 
  8. Then, they should go to the Code Master, who will say how many pieces are in the correct position, but not which ones! 
  9. Groups can keep rearranging their METAR and checking with the Code Master until all pieces are in the right order. 

Explain the code

  1. Once everyone has solved their METAR, bring the groups back together.
  2. Help them understand what each part of the code means:
    • Why is each part useful for pilots?
    • What does their example METAR tell them about the weather? 

A METAR is a Meteorological Terminal Aviation Routine weather report.

METARs are routinely issued at over 50 UK airports. They give a snapshot of current weather conditions, including wind speed and direction, visibility, weather, cloud cover, temperature and air pressure.

METARs are provided in a coded format. To fully understand them, it helps to learn what the different parts of the code mean. 

Time – 171150Z

  • The time and date the METAR was created, in the format date, hour, minute.
  • In this example, the METAR was created on the 17th day of the month at 11.50am.
  • The Z comes from a military abbreviation – it shows that the timezone’s Greenwich Mean Time.

Wind – 22018KT    

  • The wind speed and direction, in the format direction in degrees, speed in knots.
  • In this example, the wind’s coming from 220 degrees (south west) at a speed of 18 knots (abbreviated to KT).
  • 18 knots is about 21mph. Online calculators and conversion charts help people change between the two.

Visibility – 4500

  • The visibility in metres.
  • In this example, the visibility’s 4,500 metres.

Clouds – FEW020

  • The amount of clouds (an abbreviation) followed by their height in hundreds of metres.
  • In this example, there are few clouds at 2,000 metres.
  • The other abbreviations are ‘BKN’ for broken, ‘SCT’ for scattered, and ‘OVC’ for overcast.

Temperate – 08/06

  • The temperature and dew point in degrees Celsius.
  • The dew point’s the temperate air needs to be cooled to become saturated with water. If it gets colder than this, the water will precipitate as rain (or snow). If the dew point’s close to the temperate, the air’s nearly saturated which could make it cloudy or foggy.
  • In this example, the temperature’s eight degrees and the dew point is six degrees. The temperature’s above the dew point, so there won’t be rain or snow, but the two temperatures are close so there’ll likely be clouds.

Pressure – Q1009

  • The air pressure in hectopascals.
  • In this example, the air pressure’s 1,009 hectopascals.
  • In the UK, normal air pressure’s around 1,013 hectopascals.

Riddle answers

  • I am the word for how far you can see, I also rhyme with nobility. I can be reduced by things in the way, and I won’t be great on a cloudy day. Visibility
  • Until I am measured, I am not known. Yet how you miss me, when I have flown. Time
  • I will affect the weather near and far, I am measured in Millibars. I come before the words point and cooker, but won’t be seen by a single onlooker. Pressure
  • I’m a breeze or a bluster, a cyclone or gale. I am what is measured, on the Beaufort scale. Wind
  • This is something you see in the sky, you’ll need more hints though, so I’ll explain. It’s sometimes fluffy and sometimes grey, and can release snow, hail or rain. Clouds
  • I will make sweat or make you shiver, I will melt the snow to fill the river. I go up and down, but don’t move an inch, I can be cold enough to make you flinch. Temperature

Completed METAR solution

1 – Time

2 – Wind 

3 – Visibility  

4 – Clouds        

5 – Temperature   

6 – Pressure

​---

1 – 171150Z    

2 – 22018KT    

3 – 4500       

4 – FEW020    

5 – 08/06               

6 – Q1009

Reflection

This activity was all about problem-solving. People might have encountered METAR reports for the first time in this activity, but some people use them every day. Who might use METAR reports regularly? People may think about pilots or commercial fishers. How might these people use METAR reports? In the activity, people had to look at things differently and try different options to solve the riddles and find the right order. How did people feel when they got something right? When else might it be useful to look at things creatively?

This activity also needed people to be a team player. Did working in a team make this activity easier or trickier? How did people make sure that everyone took part? Did different people have different strengths?

Safety

All activities must be safely managed. You must complete a thorough risk assessment and take appropriate steps to reduce risk. Use the safety checklist to help you plan and risk assess your activity. Always get approval for the activity, and have suitable supervision and an InTouch process.

You must run your activities in line with the Safeguarding Code of Conduct for Adults (Yellow Card) and report any concerns to the UK HQ Safeguarding Team.

Scissors

Supervise young people appropriately when they’re using scissors. Store all sharp objects securely, out of the reach of young people.

  • You may want to add an extra code master if it’s a lot of work for one person. It may depend on the size of your group.
  • Code masters could give groups clues if they’re really struggling. This might look like giving them the first letter of a riddle answer, or letting them know which pieces of the code are in the right place.
  • To make the riddles and mastermind extra challenging, we’ve suggested you only chat about them at the end. If you want to make it a bit easier, you could talk about the information first. You could also just use the facts to help people create their own METARs.

You may need to scale the riddle cards up if anyone needs them to be bigger. You could also display them on a screen so you can adjust the contrast or use a screen reader.

All Scout activities should be inclusive and accessible.

Scouts Meteorologist Activity Badge
Air Activities Stage 3

People could put their knowledge to the test by creating their own METAR reports and presenting them back to others.

If people were inspired by this activity, there are plenty more meteorological activities in the Air Activities Staged Activity Badge, for example, Whatever the weather.  Scouts could also ignite their passion for the weather with the Meteorologist Activity Badge.