Decoding a METAR header.

• KDKB — station identifier (DeKalb, IL). The K prefix = CONUS airport.
• 151235Z — day 15, 12:35 UTC (Zulu time). Always UTC, never local.
• AUTO — report generated by automated equipment (ASOS/AWOS), not a human observer.
• Age “(27m ago)” on the slide just reflects how stale the report is at the moment of reading.