In the "information age"... with iPhones.. and all this wonderful technology... we are still using this holdover from the ticker-tape days.
At least that ticker tape technology didn't break down as unexplained as PPRuNe has over the last few days.
Anyways, in the digital age, would the METAR really be that much clearer to read?
<METAR>
<LOCATION FORMAT=ICAO>EGNM</LOCATION>
<DATE FORMAT=YYYYMMDD>20081204</DATE>
<TIME TZ=UTC FORMAT=HHMM>0720</TIME>
<VISIBILITY UNIT=M>0800</VISIBILITY>
<VISIBILITY UNIT=M RUNWAY=14>1500</VISIBILITY>
<VISIBILITY_TREND RUNWAY=14>P</VISIBILITY>
<PRECIPITATION>SN</PRECIPITATION>
<VERTICAL_VISIBILITY>NO VALUE</VERTICAL_VISIBILITY>
<TEMPERATURE UNIT=C>-0</TEMPERATURE>
<DEWPOINT UNIT=C>-0</DEWPOINT>
<QNH UNIT=HPA>0974</QNH>
<DATA>EGNM 040720Z 14015KT 0800 R14/P1500 SN VV/// M00/M00 Q0974</DATA>
</METAR>