I am a fan of the abbreviated versions too. But a long shot into the future, will there be emojis in the METAR version y2050? +TSRA ⛈️⛈️⛈️
I should hope I never find my handle an emoji in my career. I believe that will be the day I retire.
I get that if you are scanning METARs and TAFs everyday, they becomes second nature, but what about radar reports, winds aloft and PIREPS? How often do you guys scan those?
Every day.
NOTAMS are crap and need an overhaul pronto. I swear to god if I have to search through 20 crane NOTAMS to find the one important one about revised ILS or LPV minima, I'll go ballistic. This was the case in Calgary for the last couple of years. Beyond a joke it was.
However, leave the METAR's and TAF's alone. Sure, update the codes so we're all using the same coding principles, but it is FAR quicker to read through the last four hours worth of METARS for ten airports in code than it ever will be written in plain language.