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Please Help With This METAR!

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User546

The Ultimate Show Stopper
Joined
Jan 24, 2004
Posts
1,958
KRVS 040552Z AUTO 09018G27KT 2SM VCTS -RA OVC022 21/18 A2994 RMK AO2 PK WND 04028/0457 LTG DSNT ALQDS TSE06B17RAEMM SLP130 P0000 60000 T02110178 10317 20211 403330206 50012

I like to think of myself as METAR-savvy, but I'm stumped on a few things and was wondering if someone could help me out here!

First, what does "ALQDS" translate to? I've seen this fairly frequently, but have not been able to find any reference to it in any books or on the internet.

Second, What does the "MM" mean at the end of the "Rain End" statement? Missing perhaps?

Third, what does the second and third part of this section refer to? "SLP130 P0000 60000" I understand the first part as being Sea Level Pressure, but whats the significance of the other two?

And lastly, what's all the gibberish numbers after the "
T02110178" remark? I know the T02..etc is the exact temp and dew point readout, but what about all the other seemingly random numbers at the end?

Thanks in advance for all the help!
 
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I'll take a stab at it... I think ALQDS is "all quadrants"... since it says LTG DSNT ALQDS. I've heard that usage with ASOS before. Someone correct me if im wrong.
 
Here's my attempt at it, hopefully I didn't screw up anything too embarassing... maybe being the weather dork at my flight school might actually pay off

KRVS: Whatever airport this is
040552Z: 4th day of the month at 0552z
AUTO: automated report
09018G27KT: winds 090 at 18 gust 27 knots
2SM: 2 sm visibility
VCTS: thunderstorms in vicinity
-RA: light rain
OVC022: overcast at 2200agl
21/18: temp at 21C, dewpoint at 18C
A2994: altimeter 29.94 in hg
RMK: the following are remarks
AO2: automated station with precipitation descriminator
PK WND 04028/0457: peak wind 040 at 28kts occured at 0457z
LTG DSNT ALQDS: lightning distant all quadrants
TSE06B17RAEMM: thunderstorm ended 0506z, began 0517z, rain ended at what I'm guessing is an unknown time
SLP130: sea level pressure 1013.0 hPA
P0000: 1 hour precip 00.00in (trace)
60000: 6 hour precip 00.00in (trace)
T02110178: temp 21.1C, dewpoint 17.8C (more accurate than stated above)
10317: 6 hour temp max: 31.7C
20211: 6 hour temp min: 21.1C
403330206: 24 hour temp max: 33.3C, min: 20.6C
50012: 3 hour pressure change: 1.2 hPa

In those last number groups, XYZZZ is a typical format with X being the =designator for what it is, Y being the plus or minus sign (+=0, -=1), and ZZZ being the data. Theres a list of all of the types of them (somewhere), check your aviation weather services book.
 
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Im a LAWRS certified weather guy and I agree with fly15 up to the RAEMM. I think that means that its missing I.E. the ASOS sensor may have the precip turned off. We usually turn our ALDARS sensor off during the day which would elimante faulty TS readings. Thats a tough one though. Lots of stuff
 
Also a LAWRS guy and I think Lrjtcaptain's got the RAEMM correct. I'll give flyf15 a gold star though... there is a lot of stuff there, much of which doesn't mean a whole lot to us pilot types. If you really want to reach "weather dork" status, take a look at the FMH-1 and/or Order 7900. Deciphering User's post reminded me of when I used to do this to my students... for fun, I would pull the weather for MWN. It's always good (especially in winter) for testing their knowledge or just blowing their minds... 200 knot winds, clouds beneath you, visibilities varying from 0 to 100, freezing fog, etc. all look funny to a Midwesterner!

cc
 
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Thank you everyone for your input and information!

FlyF15, you da' man with that decoding!

OK, now my followup question... WHY on earth do we need this much information in a METAR? And I'm referring to everything after the "T-Storms End/Began" statement?! Does anyone truly use this info when they're flying or before they takeoff?
 
User997 said:
KRVS 040552Z AUTO 09018G27KT 2SM VCTS -RA OVC022 21/18 A2994 RMK AO2 PK WND 04028/0457 LTG DSNT ALQDS TSE06B17RAEMM SLP130 P0000 60000 T02110178 10317 20211 403330206 50012

I'm a certified weather observer, so I'll try and help you out with this one.

LTG DSNT ALQDS = lightning distance all quads
TSE06B17RAEMM = thunderstorm ended 6 minutes past hour, began 17 minutes past hour. Rain ended, but end time is unknown (LEDWI, or light emmiting diode weather indicator probably failed for a period of time).
SLP130 = sea level pressure 1013.0 hectopascals
P0000 = precipitation since last hourly observation "trace"
60000 = precipitation in last 6 hours "trace"
T02110178 = temperature 21.1 C / dewpoint 17.8 C (ASOS measures in fahrenheit whole numbers than coverts to closest celsius degrees in tenths).
10317 = highest temperature in past 6 hours was 31.7 C
20211 = lowest temperature in past 6 hours was 21.1 C
403330206 = highest temperature in past 24 hours was 33.0 C, lowest temperature in past 24 hours was 20.6 C
50012 = pressure change in past three hours, increased then decreased and it is 1.2 hPa higher than three hours ago

This information is not very useful to pilots and I don't think the typical pilot should know it or would need to know it. However, meteorologists find this data useful for forecasting and verification purposes. Remember that this type of additive data is automated and can at sometimes be inaccurate, especially the precipitation data. Even at augmented stations with a backup observer, most locations do not have backup instruments and are not allowed by FAA rules to augment this data even if it is inaccurate or incorrect.
 
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I'm curious, how does one become a certified weather observer, and also what is LAWRS that a coupl eof you referred to?
 
All that extra garbage is only thrown in there every 6 hours. It can be very useful to see trends and decipher frontal passage. You can look at stations along a path and see how fast something is moving and make an educated guess as to the conditions you'll see somewhere at a given point in time..

Don't be so quick to rely on the info that some FSS guy gives you. Learn how to read the charts and this "extra" information can be very helpful.
 

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