Resolve an airport or weather reporting station by its identifier, or discover stations within a bounding box or US state. Returns all identifier variants (ICAO/IATA/FAA), coordinates, elevation, and available data types (METAR, TAF, SYNOP, etc.). A lookup matches the registry's own identifier, which for an airport is its 4-character ICAO ID (e.g., KSEA, KJFK, K0S9); buoys and mesonet sites carry identifiers of other shapes and resolve by those. At least one of station_ids, bbox, or state is required. limit bounds how many stations an area search returns without changing the area searched, and belongs to the bbox and state modes only.
Get current weather observations (METARs) for named airports, or survey every reporting station inside a geographic area. Returns decoded fields — wind direction/speed/gusts, visibility, ceiling with its kind (measured, or indefinite for vertical visibility into an obscuration), present weather, temperature, dewpoint, altimeter, cloud layers — plus the computed flight category (VFR/MVFR/IFR/LIFR) and the raw METAR string. Requires either station_ids (1–10 ICAO IDs, e.g., KSEA, KJFK, K0S9) or bbox (area survey) — not both. station_ids returns every observation inside the hours window; bbox returns the latest observation per station in the box, with flight_category keeping only the stations in the categories named (e.g., IFR and LIFR) and limit bounding how many stations come back. Use aviation_find_stations to resolve or verify an ICAO ID, or to discover nearby stations.
Get the Terminal Aerodrome Forecast (TAF) for one or more airports. Returns each forecast period with valid times, surface wind, low-level wind shear, visibility, decoded weather conditions, cloud layers, and the vertical visibility into a forecast obscuration, plus the raw TAF string. TAFs cover the next 24–30 hours and are issued only for airports with scheduled commercial service; check data_types from aviation_find_stations to confirm TAF availability. Accepts 1–4 ICAO station IDs (e.g., KSEA, KJFK, K36U).
Get recent Pilot Reports (PIREPs) near an airport or within a bounding box. Returns decoded turbulence, icing, and cloud reports with altitude, aircraft type, intensity, outside air temperature, wind aloft, flight weather, and the raw PIREP string. Requires either station_id (ICAO center point for radial search, e.g., KSEA) or bbox (area search) — not both. distance_nm belongs to the station_id search only, and altitude_min_ft must not exceed altitude_max_ft. min_intensity restricts the result to reports carrying a turbulence or icing layer at that intensity or above. limit bounds how many reports come back without changing what is searched, keeping the most recent. Coverage is US-centric; PIREPs are sparse and absence of reports does not imply smooth conditions.
Get active domestic SIGMETs, international SIGMETs (including oceanic products), and Center Weather Advisories from the NWS Aviation Weather Center. Filter by advisory_type, hazard, or ordered bbox. Returns source coverage, decoded hazards/altitudes/movement, multipart geometry, and original bulletins; missing facts stay null. Independent source failures retain healthy results with partial coverage. AIRMET requests are rejected; this tool does not retrieve AIRMETs. Omit limit to return every available match; an explicit limit sorts results and discloses withheld matches.