Aviation Weather METAR TAF Scraper

Aviation Weather METAR TAF Scraper

Scrape METAR and TAF aviation weather reports for any airport ICAO code, up to a million per run. Each report returns raw and decoded flight categories, wind, visibility, clouds, temperature, and altimeter. No API key required. Export to CSV, JSON, Excel, or XML.

Aviation weather data from NOAA is public but querying it airport by airport through a browser is slow. This Actor reads the latest METAR observations and TAF forecasts directly from the Aviation Weather Center for any list of ICAO codes you provide, and returns each report in one consistent row. You get the raw text string plus decoded fields like flight category, wind direction, and visibility without writing a parser.

Who uses it	What they scrape NOAA Aviation Weather for
Flight dispatchers	Pull current METAR for a fleet's destination airports before releasing a flight plan.
Aviation weather researchers	Collect hourly observations across a region to analyze fog or thunderstorm patterns.
Pilots and flight planners	Check TAF forecasts for an alternate airport to confirm it will stay above minimums.
Insurance analysts	Gather historical METAR data to validate weather-related claims at specific airfields.

What it does

This Actor collects METAR or TAF reports from NOAA's Aviation Weather Center for a list of airport ICAO codes and returns each report as a flat row with both raw text and decoded fields.

• 📡 Raw and decoded output: every row includes the original METAR or TAF text string plus parsed fields for flight category, wind, visibility, clouds, temperature, dewpoint, and altimeter.
• 🔄 METAR or TAF mode: switch between current surface observations and terminal aerodrome forecasts with forecast-period breakdowns.
• ⏱️ Lookback window for METAR: set a 1 to 72 hour lookback to pull recent observations, or use 1 hour for the latest report only.
• 🌐 Multi-airport runs: feed in a list of ICAO codes and pull weather for all of them in a single run.

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

What you can do with NOAA Aviation Weather data

🛫 Pre-flight weather briefings.

A dispatcher runs the Actor for a list of destination and alternate ICAO codes 30 minutes before departure to pull the latest METAR and confirm conditions are above company minimums.

📊 Historical weather research.

A graduate researcher pulls 72 hours of METAR for a set of coastal airports to study how quickly visibility drops when a marine layer moves in.

📋 Claims verification.

An aviation insurance analyst collects METAR for the time and location of a reported incident to check whether weather conditions match the claim narrative.

🗺️ Regional weather snapshot.

A weather briefer runs a list of 50 ICAO codes across the Midwest every hour to build a dashboard of current flight categories and identify airports going below VFR.

Why choose this scraper

	What you get
No API key	NOAA's Aviation Weather Center data is public. No registration, no OAuth, no rate-limit headaches.
Decoded fields	Flight category, wind direction and speed, visibility in statute miles, cloud layers, temperature, dewpoint, and altimeter are parsed out of the raw text.
TAF forecast periods	TAF reports return each forecast period as a separate row so you can track changing conditions over the forecast window.
Bulk airport runs	Drop in a list of ICAO codes and pull weather for a whole region or fleet in one run.

How it compares

This Actor focuses on airport-specific METAR and TAF reports while the NWS Weather Alerts Fetcher covers broader geographic weather alerts from the same NOAA ecosystem.

Feature	ParseForge	NWS Weather Alerts Fetcher
METAR observations	Yes, with decoded fields	Not listed
TAF forecasts	Yes, with forecast period breakdown	Not listed
Airport ICAO code input	Yes, list of ICAO codes	Not listed
Flight category decoding	Yes	Not listed
Weather watches and warnings	Not listed	Yes
Geographic zone or county input	Not listed	Yes

Configure the run

Drive the Actor from a list of airport ICAO codes, pick METAR or TAF, and set a lookback window for observations. Filters run as each report is fetched so only matching records reach your dataset. The Input tab lists every parameter.

A first run with the defaults:

{
 "ids": [
 "KJFK",
 "KLAX",
 "KORD",
 "EGLL",
 "KSFO"
 ],
 "reportType": "METAR",
 "maxItems": 10
}

A larger pull:

{
 "ids": [
 "KJFK",
 "KLAX",
 "KORD",
 "EGLL",
 "KSFO"
 ],
 "reportType": "METAR",
 "maxItems": 200
}

Pricing

Pay-per-result: $0.006 per result collected. You pay only for the results written to your dataset.

Results collected	Approximate cost
100 results	$0.60
1,000 results	$6.00
10,000 results	$60.00

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 TAF 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 NOAA 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/aviationweather-metar-taf-scraper"

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

Troubleshooting

Why am I getting no results for some ICAO codes?

Check that the ICAO code is a valid 4-letter identifier and that the airport issues the report type you selected. Small airfields may not produce TAF forecasts. Also verify the lookback hours setting is not too short to capture an observation.

Why does my TAF run return so many rows per airport?

TAF forecasts contain multiple change groups, and each one becomes a separate row in the output. This is expected behavior. The base forecast and each FM, BECMG, and TEMPO group all appear as individual rows with their own valid time windows.

The decoded visibility field shows a number I do not understand.

Visibility is returned in statute miles as reported in the METAR. Values like 10.0 mean 10 statute miles or greater. Fractional values like 0.25 indicate reduced visibility. The raw text string is always available for manual verification.

Why is the flight category blank for some reports?

Flight category is derived from ceiling and visibility. If the METAR does not report cloud ceilings or the visibility is missing, the category cannot be determined and will be blank. Check the raw text to confirm what the station reported.

My run timed out with a large airport list.

The Aviation Weather Center may throttle requests. Try splitting your ICAO code list into smaller batches across multiple runs, or increase the run timeout in your Actor settings.

FAQ

Question	Answer
Do I need an API key from NOAA or Aviation Weather Center?	No. This Actor reads the public Aviation Weather Center data feeds directly. No registration, no API key, and no authentication are required.
What is the difference between METAR and TAF?	METAR is a current surface weather observation, typically issued hourly. TAF is a Terminal Aerodrome Forecast that predicts weather over a 24 to 30 hour period, broken into forecast change groups. Pick the report type in the input settings.
How many airports can I query in one run?	You can supply as many 4-letter ICAO codes as you need in the airport list. The Actor will pull the latest report for each one in sequence.
What fields are decoded from the raw METAR or TAF text?	The Actor parses flight category, wind direction and speed, visibility, cloud layers, temperature, dewpoint, and altimeter pressure. The original raw text string is also included in every row.
Can I get historical METAR data from days or weeks ago?	The lookback setting supports up to 72 hours of recent observations. For older historical data, the Aviation Weather Center's archive feeds would be needed, which this Actor does not currently access.
How are TAF forecast periods handled?	Each forecast change group within a TAF is returned as a separate row, so you get the base forecast plus each FM, BECMG, and TEMPO group with its own valid time window.
What ICAO code format should I use?	Use the standard 4-letter ICAO airport identifier. For U.S. airports this is a K prefix plus the 3-letter IATA code, for example KJFK, KLAX, KORD. International airports use their assigned ICAO code, for example EGLL for London Heathrow.
Can I scrape weather for heliports or seaplane bases?	Any location with a valid ICAO identifier that issues METAR or TAF reports through the Aviation Weather Center can be queried. This includes heliports and seaplane bases that have an ICAO code.
What output formats are supported?	You can export your dataset to CSV, JSON, Excel, or XML from the Apify platform after the run completes.
How often should I run this Actor for current weather?	METARs are typically issued once per hour, with some airports issuing more frequent SPECI reports when conditions change significantly. Running every 30 to 60 minutes captures the latest observation for each airport.

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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 National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. 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.