Local Weather Observation vs Forecast

What the tool does

A forecast tells you what a weather model expects. An observation tells you what is actually being measured. This tool puts the two side by side for any place you choose:

1. it finds the nearest airport weather report (METAR) from the last three hours;
2. it shows the station's measured wind, gusts, direction, temperature, visibility and weather;
3. it shows the forecast for your exact spot at the same moment, plus the forecast wind at 120 m;
4. it tells you whether the wind right now is stronger, lighter or in line with the forecast;
5. it checks whether the station is a fair stand-in for your site — close, recent and at a similar altitude.

Airports report at least every hour, often every 30 minutes, from calibrated instruments on a 10 m mast in open ground — one of the most trustworthy wind measurements you can get for free.

How to use the comparison

The useful signal is not the exact numbers, but the direction of the error:

• Observed wind stronger than forecast: the model is running light today. Expect the wind at your flying height to be stronger than the forecast shows too, and plan with extra margin — or wait.
• Observed matches forecast: the forecast is on track, and its numbers for the next hour or two are a reasonable guide.
• Observed lighter than forecast: often the case in the early morning or under an inversion. Don't assume it stays that way: surface wind can be calm while the wind at 120 m is strong. Check the forecast at height.

Gusts deserve their own look. Airports report gusts only when they are significant, so "none reported" is itself useful information.

When the station doesn't represent your site

The tool warns you when:

• the station is more than 25 km away;
• it sits more than 300 m higher or lower than your site;
• the report is more than 90 minutes old.

In the mountains, on the coast, or with a ridge between you and the airport, the station can be measuring a completely different wind. Use the comparison as a sanity check on the forecast, not as a reading from your launch point.

Free JSON for developers

Full documentation, including the flight-conditions API and embeddable widgets: UAV Meteo for developers.

The same data is available as a free endpoint, no key needed:

GET https://uavmeteo.com/api/local-weather?lat=37.95&lon=23.85

It returns the nearest station (id, name, distance, elevation), its observation in SI units (m/s, °C, meters), the forecast for the point, the stronger/similar/weaker verdict and a representativeness check. Please cache responses for a few minutes and keep the attribution: observations from the NOAA Aviation Weather Center, forecast from Open-Meteo.

Limits

• Airports are where they are: remote areas, mountains and some countries have few reporting stations. When nothing reports within 150 km, the tool says so.
• A METAR describes a single point 10 m above open, flat ground. Drones fly higher, and often near trees, buildings or slopes.
• The forecast shown is the current-hour value for your point; the observation can be up to three hours old.

For more on why the two differ and when to trust which, read Weather station vs forecast for drone flying.