Historical METAR/SPECI

GET https://api.metar.ws/v1/history/observations returns archived METAR and SPECI reports for one or more stations, going back to 2005-01-01 wherever the underlying archive covers that station. This is a plain request/response REST endpoint, not a subscription: point it at a station and a time range and get reports back directly, with no live updates.

Unlike the live channels, historical queries are available starting on the Sandbox plan. Sandbox is throttled to 1 request/second — enough to explore the API, not to bulk-export data. See Rate limits below.

Authentication

Historical queries use the same API key as the WebSocket stream, sent as a bearer token:

Authorization: Bearer mts_live_YOUR_KEY

No separate credential is needed. The endpoint reads from the same key store the stream reads from, so revoking a key in the portal takes effect immediately here too.

Sample request

Getting METAR and SPECI reports for EDDM on 1 August 2026:

curl --request GET \
  --url "https://api.metar.ws/v1/history/observations?stations=EDDM&from=2026-08-01T00:00:00Z&to=2026-08-02T00:00:00Z&type=all&include=raw,decoded&limit=100" \
    --header "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY"

Sample response

{
    "data": [
          {
                  "id": "zxiyckwps3ls5n3r6w3mpess",
                  "station": "EDDM",
                  "observedAt": "2026-08-01T00:50:00Z",
                  "type": "METAR",
                  "raw": "EDDM 010050Z AUTO 02003KT 350V050 CAVOK 18/16 Q1016 NOSIG",
                  "decoded": { "temp_c": "18", "dewp_c": "16", "wdir": 20, "wspd_kt": 3, "cavok": true, "altim_hpa": 1016 },
                  "parseStatus": "parsed"
          }
    ],
    "meta": {
          "hasMore": true,
          "nextCursor": "eyJ...",
          "coverage": {
                  "status": "complete",
                  "stations": [
                            { "station": "EDDM", "status": "complete", "yearsDone": 1, "yearsAll": 1 }
                  ]
          },
          "rateLimit": { "plan": "pro", "limitPerSecond": 100, "remaining": 99 }
    }
}

decoded is only populated when include requests it and the report parsed cleanly; check parseStatus before relying on it. It follows the same field names as the live METAR Observations channel.

Query parameters

Parameter	Required	Notes
`stations`	yes	One or more uppercase ICAO codes, comma-separated
`from`	yes	RFC-3339 UTC timestamp; inclusive
`to`	yes	RFC-3339 UTC timestamp; exclusive
`type`	no	`all`, `metar`, or `speci`
`include`	no	Comma-separated: `raw`, `decoded`, or both — controls which representations appear on each record
`limit`	no	Page size
`cursor`	no	Opaque pagination cursor from a previous response’s `meta.nextCursor`

from is inclusive and to is exclusive. All timestamps, in both the request and the response, are UTC in RFC-3339 / ISO 8601 format.

Response fields

Each element of data is one archived report:

Field	Type	Notes
`id`	string	Opaque identifier for this event
`station`	string	Uppercase ICAO code
`observedAt`	string	RFC-3339 UTC observation time
`type`	string	`METAR` or `SPECI`
`raw`	string	The unparsed report text; present when `include` requests it
`decoded`	object	Parsed fields using the same names as the live stream; present when `include` requests it and the report parsed cleanly
`parseStatus`	string	e.g. `parsed`, or `raw_only` when decoding wasn’t requested or didn’t run

meta describes the page and the account making the request:

Field	Notes
`hasMore`	`true` if another page follows
`nextCursor`	Present when `hasMore` is `true`; pass it back as `cursor` with the same filters to continue
`coverage.status`	`complete`, `partial`, or `none` for the request as a whole
`coverage.stations`	Per-station breakdown: `status`, plus `yearsDone` and `yearsAll` for the requested range
`rateLimit`	Mirrors the rate-limit response headers: `plan`, `limitPerSecond`, `remaining`

An empty data array with coverage.status: "none" means the archive has nothing for that station and range — not that the weather was calm or unreported. Check coverage before concluding there were no observations.

Pagination

Requests page through (observedAt, station, type) order. When meta.hasMore is true, repeat the request with the same filters plus cursor set to meta.nextCursor. A cursor is tied to the filters it was issued with; changing stations, from, to, type, or include between pages is rejected rather than silently reinterpreted.

Rate limits

Plan	Limit
Sandbox	1 request/second
Starter	10 requests/second
Professional	100 requests/second

Every response carries X-RateLimit-Limit and X-RateLimit-Remaining headers, and the same numbers are mirrored in meta.rateLimit. Exceeding the limit returns 429 Too Many Requests with a Retry-After header.

Coverage

The archive is backfilled from the open sources and kept in metar.ws’s own storage, so requests never hit that source directly. Coverage isn’t uniform: stations actively carried by the live stream are fully backfilled to 2005-01-01 (or the station’s period of record, if shorter), while the rest of the roster fills in gradually as the archive grows. Always check meta.coverage rather than assuming a station’s history is complete.

Next: Plans & Limits

See how historical rate limits compare with the live stream’s connection and channel limits.

Getting Started

Core Concepts

Data Channels

Historical Data

Protocol Reference

Guides & Examples

Resources

Authentication

Sample request

Sample response

Query parameters

Response fields

Rate limits

Coverage

Next: Plans & Limits

​Authentication

​Sample request

​Sample response

​Query parameters

​Response fields

​Pagination

​Rate limits

​Coverage

Next: Plans & Limits

Authentication

Sample request

Sample response

Query parameters

Response fields

Pagination

Rate limits

Coverage