United States · elevation 2312 ft AMSL
· 34.9108, -117.8864
Edwards Air Force Base is an airport with the ICAO code KEDW and the IATA code EDW. Country: United States. Nearest settlement listed in the database: Edwards. OurAirports classifies it as a medium-sized airport. Its ICAO code starts with the KE prefix, which marks airports in United States. The four-letter code KEDW is used in flight operations and weather reports, while the three-letter IATA code EDW is used for ticketing and baggage handling. The airport reference point sits at 34°54'39"N, 117°53'11"W, at an elevation of 2,312 ft (705 m) above sea level. The applicable time zone is America/Los_Angeles.
Aerial imagery showing the runway and apron layout - the zoom is matched to the longest runway.
| Threshold | Course | Length | Width | Surface |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 05L | 50° | 3,658 m (12,000 ft) | 61 m (200 ft) | asphalt |
| 23R | 230° | |||
| 05R | 50° | 5,120 m (16,798 ft) | 91 m (300 ft) | asphalt |
| 23L | 230° | |||
| 07 | 70° | 2,438 m (8,000 ft) | 15 m (50 ft) | asphalt |
| 25 | 250° |
The course is derived from the runway designator (number × 10), not from a survey - the actual magnetic bearing can differ by a few degrees.
Declared distances (TORA, TODA, ASDA, LDA) are published in the national AIP - they are not part of this table.
What the METAR reports from KEDW for 2023-2025 show - counted hour by hour.
We computed these statistics from 25,513 METAR reports issued by KEDW in 2023-2025. VFR conditions prevailed 99% of the time, MVFR 1% and IFR or LIFR <1%. Best month for VFR flying: July (100% of hours VFR). Most IFR and LIFR hours: December (1%).
IFR and LIFR conditions are rare here at any time of day.
Fog (FG) was reported on 1.3 days a year on average, most often in December. Thunderstorms (TS) occurred on 2.4 days a year on average, and snowfall practically never.
The wind most often blows from SW (225°) - 21% of reports. Calm (0 kt) made up 16% of reports, and gusts of 25 kt or more appeared in 7%. Warmest month: July (average high 39.5 °C); coldest: January (average low 0.7 °C).
Day counts are for the selected period (for all years - the yearly average).
The top of each bar is the average daily high, the bottom the average daily low (usually around dawn), in °C.
Most often: SW - 21% of reports. Each petal shows the direction the wind blows from (as in METAR) - the longer it is, the more often. Colour shows wind speed.
| Month | Avg high °C | Avg low °C | VFR | IFR/LIFR | Fog days | Thunderstorm days | Snow days |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 15.0 | 0.7 | 98% | <1% | 0.3 | 0 | 0 |
| February | 17.0 | 2.7 | 95% | <1% | 0 | 0 | 0.3 |
| March | 18.2 | 5.0 | 98% | 0% | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| April | 24.7 | 7.5 | 100% | 0% | 0 | 0.3 | 0 |
| May | 29.5 | 12.5 | 99% | <1% | 0 | 0.3 | 0 |
| June | 34.8 | 17.2 | 100% | <1% | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| July | 39.5 | 21.1 | 100% | <1% | 0 | 0.7 | 0 |
| August | 37.6 | 19.3 | 99% | <1% | 0 | 0.7 | 0 |
| September | 33.4 | 15.9 | 99% | 0% | 0 | 0.3 | 0 |
| October | 28.9 | 9.5 | 100% | <1% | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| November | 19.9 | 3.0 | 97% | <1% | 0.3 | 0 | 0 |
| December | 17.9 | 1.8 | 98% | 1% | 0.7 | 0 | 0 |
Temperatures are averages of daily highs and lows. Day counts are the average per month over the period.
According to OurAirports data (compiled from AIP and FAA sources), Edwards Air Force Base has 3 runways: 05L/23R - 3,658 m long (12,000 ft), 61 m wide, asphalt surface; 05R/23L - 5,120 m long (16,798 ft), 91 m wide, asphalt surface; 07/25 - 2,438 m long (8,000 ft), 15 m wide, asphalt surface.
The longest of them is 05R/23L, at 5,120 m.
The thresholds are oriented as follows: 05L/23R on 50° and 230° magnetic, 05R/23L on 50° and 230° magnetic, 07/25 on 70° and 250° magnetic. A threshold designator is its magnetic heading divided by ten (ICAO Annex 14), so the runway axis can be read straight off the numbers.
For the 05L/23R axis, wind from the south-east (around 140°) or from the north-west (around 320°) blows perpendicular to the runway and produces the largest crosswind component. Wind from around 50° or 230° acts along the runway, as a headwind or a tailwind. The decoder on this page computes those components automatically from the current METAR.
Weather reports for Edwards Air Force Base are published under the ICAO code KEDW. A METAR is an observation of current conditions, usually issued every 30 or 60 minutes; a TAF is a forecast for the airport area, typically covering 9 to 30 hours.
The decoder breaks the KEDW report down into its parts: wind direction and speed including gusts and variability, visibility (including CAVOK and directional minimum visibility), weather phenomena by WMO code, cloud layers with their bases, temperature and dew point, QNH pressure, and the resulting flight category - VFR, MVFR, IFR or LIFR - using FAA thresholds.
Not every airport issues its own reports; many smaller airfields have no weather station. If no current data is available for KEDW, check the nearby airports listed below.
Reports always use UTC (the Z suffix). The America/Los_Angeles zone is GMT-08:00 in winter and GMT-07:00 in summer - that is the shift to apply to the time in the report to get local time at the airport.
The closest airports in the database, measured in a straight line from the reference point, are Mojave Air & Space Port (KMHV, 29 km), General William J Fox Airfield (Lancaster) (KWJF, 36 km), Palmdale Regional Airport / USAF Plant 42 Airport (KPMD, 36 km). When no report is available for KEDW, they usually give the best approximation of conditions in the area.
METAR Academy
Step-by-step guides - with examples, charts and calculators.
Advertisement
Pass your ICAO Aviation English exam - 100% online
ICAO Level 4, 5 or 6 for PPL(A)/CPL(A)/ATPL(A): aviation vocabulary, radio phraseology, pronunciation and standard/emergency flight scenarios. Buy through this link and get a 10% discount.
The METAR archive for KEDW goes back to 01/12/1941. Pick a date and see every observation from that day.
Run a flying club, a training organisation or an airfield website? Embed a ready-made panel with the current KEDW METAR - flight category, wind, visibility, temperature and pressure, refreshed automatically. The configurator lets you pick language, theme and units; you paste the code once.
