ATIS Decoding

Palmpilot

Palmpilot

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Richard Palm
What does "8SM R30L/5000VP6000FT" mean in the METAR below? My guess would be runway 30 left RVR is 5000 feet variable to greater than 6000 feet. Is it basically saying that the visibility is eight statute miles except for patches of fog that reduce the visibility on the runway to about one mile?

KSJC 071555Z 00000KT 8SM R30L/5000VP6000FT SCT002 BKN180 12/12 A3018 RMK AO2​
 
Last edited:
Location: KSJC
SAN JOSE - MUNICIPAL - USA (CALIFORNIA)
Report emitted the day: 07, time 15:55 UTC
Sunday 7 December 2014 10:55 local time.
Wind: Calm
Minimum horizontal visibility: 8 statute miles (12875 meters).
Runway 30 Left, touchdown zone visual range is variable from a minimum of 5000 feet (1524 meters) until a maximum of more than 6000 feet (1829 meters).
Clouds: Scattered (3-4 oktas), at 200 feet above aerodrome level (61 meters).
Clouds: Broken sky (5-7 oktas), at 18000 feet above aerodrome level (5486 meters).
Temperature: 12 degrees Celsius (54 Fahrenheit). Dewpoint: 12 degrees Celsius (54 Fahrenheit). Relative humidity 100 %.
QNH (Sea-level pressure): 30.18 inches (1022 hPa).
Additional information:
Automated observation with precipitation discriminator (rain/snow).
 
Yep that's it. Remember, prevailing visibility is the greatest visibility throughout half the horizon. Your RVR could be much less.
 
Yep. Predominant is 8 but you've got a little scud layer on 30L and the RVR sensor is picking it up.
 
The secret decoder ring websites never decode all the other information. The decoded message skips over the RVR information.

Anyway, yes that means just what you thought it meant.
 
Lol! 5 replies within a minute of one another.
 
Palmpilot said:
What does "8SM R30L/5000VP6000FT" mean in the METAR below? My guess would be runway 30 left RVR is 5000 feet variable to greater than 6000 feet. Is it basically saying that the visibility is eight statute miles except for patches of fog that reduce the visibility on the runway to about one mile?
KSJC 071555Z 00000KT 8SM R30L/5000VP6000FT SCT002 BKN180 12/12 A3018 RMK AO2​
Click to expand...

It appears to me there is no temperature/dew point spread in that METAR.
I don’t fly VFR unless there is at least a 4 degree temperature/dew point spread because of the chance of fog forming unexpectedly.
I have a low fear threshold.
I have found at most airports there is a number I can call to get the ATIS in English that does no need to be translated.
 
What, pray tell, is the ATIS the OP is struggling with?
I've never heard one in code :dunno:
 
The AO2 at the end tells you it was an AWOS (or perhaps an ASOS) that can differentiate between rain and freezing/frozen precipitation.
 
Vance Breese said:
It appears to me there is no temperature/dew point spread in that METAR.
I don’t fly VFR unless there is at least a 4 degree temperature/dew point spread because of the chance of fog forming unexpectedly.
I have a low fear threshold.
I have found at most airports there is a number I can call to get the ATIS in English that does no need to be translated.
Click to expand...

I actually called the number for SJC's ATIS, but it was blank. They must have been updating it when I called. Two special observations came out around the time I was writing my post. That also explains why I wasn't able to receive it on my handheld. (It normally comes in clearly at my house when I use my outside antenna.)

KSJC 071633Z 00000KT 2 1/2SM BR SCT001 OVC180 12/12 A3019 RMK AO2 VIS NW-NE 1/4 SW-W 8

KSJC 071639Z 00000KT 4SM BR SCT001 OVC180 12/12 A3020 RMK AO2 VIS NE-E 10​
 
Re: METAR Decoding

BillTIZ said:
True, that looks like a METAR, not an ATIS.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I realized I was using the wrong term and changed it while writing the post, but I forgot to change the thread title.
 
ateamer said:
San Jose International, not Municipal.
Click to expand...

That's Norman Y. Mineta San Jose International Airport, thankyouverymuch.

Though I NEVER hear anyone outside the FAA and the Santa Clara County dweebs who keep trying to add "Silicon Valley" to that mess use that airport's official name.
 
Full reference for the METAR: Federal Metorological Handbook No. 1. Chapter 12 gives the gritty details for about every US civilian METAR code. One missing piece of information is the explanation of coding in the cloud types code (8/C1 C2 C3)

Wikipedia comes in handy for that explanation: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/METAR#WMO_codes_for_cloud_types

Military METARs and TAFs are a bit different. The Aircrew Quick Reference to the METAR and TAF Codes (Air Force Pamphlet 11-238) provides guidance for those.
 
Saw an interesting METAR today with a code that I hadn't seen before:

KMSP 131153Z 11004KT 7SM FEW001 M23/M25 A3071 RMK AO2 SLP426 4/004 I1000 I6000 T12281250 11194 21233 57020 $

The I codes aren't described in the Federal Metorological Handbook No. 1 reference I posted earlier, so I did some digging. Turns out that this code was added just a few years ago and is a measure of icing accretion. I found the following reference: http://www.faa.gov/other_visit/aviation_industry/airline_operators/airline_safety/info/all_infos/media/2008/info08024.pdf

Quoting the relevant section:

C. The icing information will appear in the remarks section of the METAR/SPECI in three
segments:
(1) The first segment will provide the ice accretion amount during the preceding hour.
(2) The second segment is the 3-hour ice accretion report which presents the amount of
ice accretion during the last 3 hours.
(3) The third segment is the 6-hour ice accretion report which presents the ice accretion
amount during the last 6 hours.
D. All ice accretion amounts will be reported to the nearest one-hundredth of an inch (0.01
in.). An example of a 1, 3, 6-hour ice accretion remark would be: “I1010 I3015 I6022.” This
translates to 0.10 inches of ice in the last hour, 0.15 inches of ice in the last 3 hours, and 0.22
inches of ice in the last 6 hours.​

A value of 000 implies trace amounts less than one-hundredth of an inch.

Just thought this was interesting.
 
upstateny said:
Location: KSJC
SAN JOSE - MUNICIPAL - USA (CALIFORNIA)
Report emitted the day: 07, time 15:55 UTC
Sunday 7 December 2014 10:55 local time.
Wind: Calm
Minimum horizontal visibility: 8 statute miles (12875 meters).
Runway 30 Left, touchdown zone visual range is variable from a minimum of 5000 feet (1524 meters) until a maximum of more than 6000 feet (1829 meters).
Clouds: Scattered (3-4 oktas), at 200 feet above aerodrome level (61 meters).
Clouds: Broken sky (5-7 oktas), at 18000 feet above aerodrome level (5486 meters).
Temperature: 12 degrees Celsius (54 Fahrenheit). Dewpoint: 12 degrees Celsius (54 Fahrenheit). Relative humidity 100 %.
QNH (Sea-level pressure): 30.18 inches (1022 hPa).
Additional information:
Automated observation with precipitation discriminator (rain/snow).
Click to expand...


How do you know its Dec 7 2014 and not Jan 7 2015? Oh never mind I looked and now see that the date this meter was put out was Dec 7 same day you made the post, I am a little behind on this post :) I was trying to figure it out how you knew the month based on the info that was given
 
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