Aviation Weather METAR Scraper

Aviation Weather METAR Scraper

Scrape METAR aviation weather reports for any airport, up to a million per run. Each report comes with raw and decoded fields, station details, and observation time. No API key. Export to CSV, JSON, Excel, or XML.

Aviation Weather Center's METAR feeds are the standard for current airport conditions, but pulling them manually means copying raw strings and decoding them by hand. This Actor reads the public METAR data for the ICAO stations you specify, looks back up to 48 hours, and returns each report in one flat, decoded row.

Who uses it	What they scrape Aviation Weather for
Pilots and flight planners	Checking current conditions at departure, destination, and alternate airports before a flight
Aviation weather researchers	Building a dataset of recent METAR observations to study weather patterns at specific airports
Drone operators	Verifying wind, visibility, and ceiling at nearby airports before a mission
Aviation app developers	Feeding decoded METAR data into flight planning or weather display tools

What it does

This Actor collects METAR reports for the ICAO station codes you provide and returns each observation as a flat row with raw text and decoded weather elements.

• 🛫 Station filtering: comma-separated ICAO codes like KJFK, KLAX, KORD, or any valid station worldwide.
• ⏱️ Time window: look back from 1 to 48 hours before now.
• 📊 Decoded fields: wind, visibility, ceiling, temperature, dew point, and altimeter are parsed from the raw METAR string.
• 📦 Flat output: one row per report, ready for CSV, JSON, Excel, or XML export.

Results export to CSV, JSON, Excel, or XML, or straight from the API.

What you can do with Aviation Weather data

✈️ Pre-flight weather checks.

A private pilot enters departure, destination, and alternate ICAO codes, runs the Actor, and reviews decoded METAR reports to decide whether conditions are safe to fly.

📈 Airport weather trend analysis.

A researcher collects 48 hours of METAR data for a set of airports and compares wind and visibility trends to study local weather patterns.

🚁 Drone mission planning.

A drone operator checks METAR reports for nearby airports to confirm wind speed and ceiling are within operational limits before launching.

🧩 Aviation app data feed.

A developer runs the Actor on a schedule to pull fresh METAR reports for a list of airports and feeds the decoded rows into a flight planning app.

Why choose this scraper

	What you get
No API key	Reads public METAR data directly, no registration or token needed
Decoded, not raw	Each row includes parsed wind, visibility, ceiling, temperature, and altimeter
Up to 48 hours back	Collect recent history for trend checks or post-flight review
Any ICAO station	Works with airports worldwide, from KJFK to EGLL to RJTT

How it compares

No other Store actor targets Aviation Weather the same way, so the honest comparison is with the alternatives teams actually weigh.

	Aviation Weather METAR Scraper	Build it in-house	By hand
Setup	Run it now, zero config	Days of engineering	None, but hours per pull
When Aviation Weather changes	Maintained for you	You fix it	You re-learn the page
Proxies, retries, anti-bot	Built in	Your problem	Browser only
Output	Fixed JSON schema, CSV/Excel export	Whatever you build	Copy-paste
Cost	Pay per result	Engineering time	Analyst hours

Configure the run

Drive the Actor with a comma-separated list of ICAO station codes and a look-back window in hours. Filters run as each report is read, so only matching observations reach your dataset. The Input tab lists every parameter.

A first run with the defaults:

{
 "maxItems": 10,
 "stations": "KJFK,KLAX,KORD",
 "hoursBefore": 2
}

A larger pull:

{
 "maxItems": 200,
 "stations": "KJFK,KLAX,KORD",
 "hoursBefore": 2
}

Pricing

Pay-per-result: $0.0085 per result collected. You pay only for the results written to your dataset.

Results collected	Approximate cost
100 results	$0.85
1,000 results	$8.50
10,000 results	$85.00

New Apify accounts start with $5 in free credit.

Free users

Free-plan runs return up to 10 results as a preview. Upgrade your Apify plan to collect up to 1,000,000 results per run.

Run it

1. Create a free Apify account with $5 in credit.
2. Open the Aviation Weather METAR Scraper.
3. Set your inputs and any filters, then click Start.
4. Export the results as CSV, Excel, JSON, or XML from the Dataset tab.

Run it programmatically through the Apify API (run-sync-get-dataset-items) or the ApifyClient for JavaScript and Python.

Use with AI agents (MCP)

Give an AI agent live access to Aviation Weather through the Model Context Protocol. Add the Actor to Claude, Cursor, or any MCP client:

claude mcp add --transport http apify "https://mcp.apify.com?tools=parseforge/aviation-weather-metar-scraper"

Then prompt it in plain language to run the scraper and read back the results.

Troubleshooting

Why am I getting no results?

Check that the ICAO codes are valid and comma-separated without spaces. Also confirm the hoursBefore window is not too small for the station's reporting frequency.

Why are some fields empty in the output?

Some METAR reports omit certain elements, such as visibility or weather phenomena. The Actor leaves those fields empty rather than guessing.

Can I get more than 48 hours of history?

No, the Actor is limited to the last 48 hours. For longer history, you would need a different data source or repeated scheduled runs.

Why did the run fail with a station error?

One of the ICAO codes may be invalid or the station may not report METAR data. Remove the code and try again.

How do I export the data?

After the run finishes, open the dataset in Apify and use the export buttons to download CSV, JSON, Excel, or XML.

FAQ

Question	Answer
What is a METAR report?	METAR is the international standard format for hourly airport weather observations. It includes wind, visibility, weather phenomena, sky condition, temperature, dew point, and altimeter setting.
Which stations can I scrape?	Any station with a valid ICAO code that reports METAR data. Examples include KJFK, KLAX, KORD, EGLL, and RJTT.
How far back can I get data?	The Actor can look back up to 48 hours before the run time. Use the hoursBefore input to set the window.
Do I need an API key?	No. The Actor reads public METAR data directly from the Aviation Weather Center, so no registration or token is required.
What format is the output?	Each report is returned as a flat row with raw METAR text and decoded fields. You can export the dataset to CSV, JSON, Excel, or XML.
Can I scrape multiple airports in one run?	Yes. Enter a comma-separated list of ICAO codes in the stations input, and the Actor will collect reports for all of them.
How many reports can I get per run?	You can set maxItems up to 1,000,000 reports per run. The default is 10.
Does the Actor decode the raw METAR string?	Yes. Each row includes parsed wind, visibility, ceiling, temperature, dew point, and altimeter, alongside the original raw text.
Is this only for US airports?	No. It works with any ICAO station worldwide that reports METAR data.
Can I schedule this Actor to run automatically?	Yes. You can set up a schedule in Apify to run the Actor at regular intervals and keep your METAR dataset fresh.

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Browse the full ParseForge collection for more scrapers.

🆘 Need help? Email parseforge@protonmail.com with your run ID, your input, and what you expected.

⚠️ Disclaimer. This Actor is unofficial and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Aviation Weather Center. It collects only publicly available data. You are responsible for using the collected data in compliance with the source's terms of service and applicable data-protection laws, including GDPR, CCPA, and PIPL. Do not use it to collect personal data unlawfully.