Is the weather real and current?

Yes. METARs are the official airport weather observations, refreshed by the pipeline, so the strip shows real conditions.

What does the colored chip mean?

It's the flight category — green VFR, blue MVFR, red IFR, magenta LIFR — based on visibility and cloud ceiling.

Why does it use a pipeline?

The aviation weather API isn't readable directly from a browser, so a small background script fetches it and saves a snapshot.

Can I read the raw METAR?

Yes. The full raw observation is printed at the bottom of the strip for anyone who reads METAR code.

Yes — free, no download, in your browser.

METAR Board Screensaver

The METAR Board screensaver is a live aviation-weather board of METAR flight strips for major airports — wind, visibility, sky and the green-amber-red flight category — from the key-less U.S. aviation weather service via the pipeline. It's free, runs in your browser, and ESC exits.

How the METAR Board screensaver works

A background pipeline pulls the latest METAR observation for your chosen airport from the U.S. aviation weather service, with no key.

The saver lays it out as a flight strip: the airport, a colored flight-category chip, and a wind compass.

Visibility, temperature, dew point, altimeter and sky cover are shown alongside, the way a dispatcher reads them.

The raw METAR string sits at the bottom in monospace, and the strip refreshes on a schedule.

A worked example

For London Heathrow the strip might glow green for VFR, the wind needle pointing from the southwest at 12 knots, with the raw line EGLL 281550Z 22012KT 9999 FEW040 18/11 Q1014 printed underneath.

Settings & tips

Airport chooses which field's METAR to display.
Accent recolours the strip.
Run automation/run.py metar on your pipeline machine to refresh the observations.

Frequently asked questions

Is the weather real and current?: Yes. METARs are the official airport weather observations, refreshed by the pipeline, so the strip shows real conditions.
What does the colored chip mean?: It's the flight category — green VFR, blue MVFR, red IFR, magenta LIFR — based on visibility and cloud ceiling.
Why does it use a pipeline?: The aviation weather API isn't readable directly from a browser, so a small background script fetches it and saves a snapshot.
Can I read the raw METAR?: Yes. The full raw observation is printed at the bottom of the strip for anyone who reads METAR code.
Is it free?: Yes — free, no download, in your browser.

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