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metar help

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GravityHater said:
only a government body would see fit to duplicate a part of such a printout, the T/DP are already listed. But can they provide universal uncoded weather to people? Noo-oo. Even if we are now out of the teletype age where every digit is sacred.

Actually, the reason temperatures and dewpoints are in the remarks are for the general public. As pilots we only need to know temp to the nearest degree C for most of our performance and weight and balance. However, when we changed from the old code (which used degrees F) to METAR the general public and meteorologist types thought degrees C was too "crude" of a scale.

As a side note, if you do have a unaugmented AWOS/ASOS ("AUTO") that is capable of reporting thunderstorms: BE CAREFUL! Most of the time they report lightning "DSNT" regardless of how close the thunderstorm is.
 
cathaywannabe said:
As a side note, if you do have a unaugmented AWOS/ASOS ("AUTO") that is capable of reporting thunderstorms: BE CAREFUL! Most of the time they report lightning "DSNT" regardless of how close the thunderstorm is.
Speaking of which, anyone know just how far out these automated stations can detect these thunderstorms and lightning?
 
cathaywannabe said:
Actually, the reason temperatures and dewpoints are in the remarks are for the general public. As pilots we only need to know temp to the nearest degree C for most of our performance and weight and balance. However, when we changed from the old code (which used degrees F) to METAR the general public and meteorologist types thought degrees C was too "crude" of a scale.

oh for gawds sakes, the public needs to know to the decimal what temp it is outside? Most of them couldnt guess the correct temp within 5 degrees.
 
GravityHater said:
oh for gawds sakes, the public needs to know to the decimal what temp it is outside? Most of them couldnt guess the correct temp within 5 degrees.
i know i cant
 
User997 said:
Speaking of which, anyone know just how far out these automated stations can detect these thunderstorms and lightning?

Sometimes it can be ridiculously far. I've seen down here in South Florida they pick up thunderstorms 50 miles away and report them as "TS" with lightning distant. It is supposed to be only about 30 miles, but the technology isn't very reliable yet.

They are also good at picking up car alarms. In Cincinnati it was -12 F and Clear in the middle of winter. Someone's car alarm went off and there was a "thunderstorm" reported by ASOS for about 20 minutes.

So, if the sky is clear and ASOS reports a thunderstorm your car might be getting jacked.
 
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