Richard Russell wrote:

Just checked KIAD on AOPA and it worked fine.
Rich Russell

Thanks. A combination of two things screwed me up.

First and foremost, I was searching for a METAR that doesn't exist.
There is no weather reporting station at Gaithersburg-KGAI, according to
AirNav:

WX AWOS-3 at CGS (16 nm SE): 121.225 (301-864-5497)
WX AWOS-3 at FDK (18 nm NW): 124.875 (301-694-1457)
WX AWOS-3 at JYO (19 nm W): 125.225 (703-777-3781)
WX ASOS at IAD (19 nm SW): PHONE 703-661-2990
WX ASOS at DCA (20 nm S): PHONE 703-412-8140

Secondly, I was using three letter identifiers to search for *other*
airports when I couldn't find GAI. I thought AOPA took either one but I
see now that they need the full ICAO code.

In my limited experience in Minnesota, I can't recall encountering an
airport identifier that could not be used to retrieve a METAR.

And isn't it a little weird that the nearest reporting station is 16
nautical miles away? This is not a small field. Granted, it does sit
in the shadow of Dulles, Reagan, BWI, and the giant ADIZ...

-Scott