PLT059: Information on a Metar
What code PLT059 covers, why the FAA tests it, and how to study Information on a Metar before your checkride.
Interpret information on a METAR / SPECI report
What this means for your checkride
A METAR is an hourly observation of current weather at an airport; a SPECI is an off-schedule update when conditions change. Both run in a fixed order, so once you know the pattern, station, time, wind, visibility, weather, sky, temperature and dew point, altimeter, you can read any of them.
Reading a METAR is a daily go or no-go skill and one of the most-tested items, so the FAA checks that you can decode each group.
Candidates misread heights and times. Sky heights are in hundreds of feet AGL, and the report time is in UTC (Zulu), not local.
Where to study it
A code on your test report is an area of deficiency. An authorized instructor must review it with you and endorse that review before you take the practical test, and the examiner may revisit it during the oral. Study it until you can explain it out loud, not just recognize the answer.