TAF format changes

[Sunfish]

FU = Fume
HJ = heures jour (or whatever)
HN = Heures Nuit

I think it has escaped peoples attention that these codes are part of an international system and that for some people, putting them "in plain english" is still putting them in code.

[jumpuFOKKERjump]

Anito said: "As for the PPL's, all they need to know to decode is CAVOK. No CAVOK on the forecast, no fly. Simple."

I'm fairly simple, and haven't quite got my PPL yet, but I don't need CAVOK to fly, and fly legal. To fly I need to be able to read the weather, I need to be able to observe the weather and understand both.

Radish-fecti said: "...TAF...IMHO...CAVOK...BoM..."

If acronyms & abbreviations (why is that word so long...) are such an anathema to you why do you use them??? If you have difficulty understanding same why do you clutter your own presentations with the same thing???? This is not the first thread I have seen with such inconguities.

Sunfishy said (most wisely): "...these codes are part of an international system..."

[Shitsu_Tonka]

Stop picking on Sports Pilots / GA / Rec Pilots as the lowest common denominator - some of them have a hell of a lot more flying experience (including plenty ex-RPT) than someone who would post a sweeping generalisation like that comment.

And leave the format alone - as mentioned above, it is great shorthand. If you are updating your WX in flight and don't have the benefit of ACARS or similar, it is likely you are scribbling it down.

If we did change it in AU it would be another non-ICAO standard to be noted.

[mustafagander]

It seems to me that we are trying to make it easier for "newbies" off the street to get a handle on what a forecast means. If this is so, then they are learning a new set of meanings to words any way, so why not learn the ICAO codes which the non English speaking world can also use? What hardship is there in learning what a set of codes means instead of what a set of words means? Something new must be assimilated into the grey matter, so why not the ICAO codes?

[Sunfish]

Pass A Frozo:

The future is computer based flight planning systems. Enter your departure airfield, flight route and arrival information. Have the system automatically get weather forecasts within XX miles left and right of track (based on suitable diverts) and have it highlight airfields that have holding requirements etc.

We already have that.....Its called NAIPS.

[regitaekilthgiwt]

Looks like its already started

From the Internet Briefing Service:

METAR TTF SPECI YSSY 070730Z 04021G31KT 8000 LIGHT THUNDERSTORMS WITH RAIN
FEW020 SCT080CB BKN110 23/20 Q1006 RMK RF00.2/000.6 FM0730
05015G25KT 9999 SCT030 INTER 0730/1030 4000 THUNDERSTORMS WITH RAIN
SCT015 SCT040CB FM0726 MOD TURB BLW 5000FT

TAF TAF AMD YSSY 070502Z 0606 04020G30KT 9999 SCT030 FM10 04015KT 9999
SCT025 FM00 18020G30KT 9999 FEW010 BKN020 PROB30 INTER 0614 3000
THUNDERSTORMS WITH RAIN SCT015 SCT040CB PROB30 INTER 2202 3000
THUNDERSTORMS WITH RAIN SCT010 SCT040CB INTER 0206 4000 SHOWERS OF
RAIN BKN010 RMK T 25 24 23 22 Q 1007 1007 1008 1007

TSRA or THUNDERSTORMS WITH RAIN? what a joke, if you can't read a METAR / TAF in shorthand you really shouldn't bother being a pilot, this is just more junk to clog up the forcast. This is just another example of people trying to fix something that doesn't need to be fixed....

[blueloo]

METAR TTF SPECI YSSY 070900Z 06023G34KT 8000 LIGHT RAIN FEW006 SCT070CB
BKN100 22/19 Q1005 RMK RF00.0/002.4 MAMMATUS INTER 0900/1100 4000
THUNDERSTORMS WITH RAIN SCT015 SCT040CB FM0900 MOD TURB BLW 5000FT



Dont think I have ever seen Mammatus Clould listed on a Met Report before. Did anyone see the saggy boob cloud tonight? I didnt!

[regitaekilthgiwt]

Hello my good friend: the blue loo! So what do you think of this?!
The way we are going it great................if we are going to go long hand on everything, why not make the following:

METAR TTF SPECI YSSY 070900Z 06023G34KT 8000 LIGHT RAIN FEW006 SCT070CB
BKN100 22/19 Q1005 RMK RF00.0/002.4 MAMMATUS INTER 0900/1100 4000
THUNDERSTORMS WITH RAIN SCT015 SCT040CB FM0900 MOD TURB BLW 5000FT

this:

METAR, NO; TREND TYPE FORECAST, SPECIAL, FOR SYDNEY INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT, 7TH OF THIS MONTH 0900 ZULU/GMT/UTC, WIND 060 DEGREES 23 KNOTS GUSTING 34 KNOTS, 8000 METRES VISIBILITY, LIGHT RAIN, FEW CLOUDS 600 FEET, SCATTERED CUMULONIMBUS CLOUD 7000 FEET, BROKEN CLOUD 10,000 FEET, TEMPERATURE 22 DEGREES CELSIUS / DEW POINT 19 DEGREES CELSIUS, QNH 1005 MILLIBARS. REMARK RAINFALL IN THE LAST 10 MINUTES NIL, SINCE 9AM LOCAL 2.4 MILLIMETRES, MAMMATUS CLOUD. INTERMITTENT BETWEEN 0900 ZULU/GMT/UTC TO 1100 ZULU/GMT/UTC, 4000 METRES THUNDERSTORMS WITH RAIN, SCATTERED CLOUD 1500 FEET, SCATTERED CUMULONIMBUS CLOUD 4000 FEET, FROM 0900 ZULU/GMT/UTC MODERATE TURBULENCE BELOW 5000 FEET.
I mean !!!! people, why assume people can interpret RF00.0/002.4 or FEW006 SCT070CB if they can't interpret something as simple as TSRA. Listen you lot in MET, give us all a break and go back to the way you were doing things, i.e. the ICAO way and for heavens sake stop trying to reinvent the wheel.

[blueloo]

Did that take 45 mins to write (type) out in the uncondensed version?

[regitaekilthgiwt]

No, it just takes 45 minutes to read, that’s what’s so frustrating with these idiots trying to reinvent the wheel when it comes to their long-hand forecast. Imagine trying to decipher this on a SYD-MEL, the flight would be over before you had finished figuring out what it says. When something isn't broken don't try to fix it. The rest of the world seems to manage ok.

[WynSock]

No offence taken Radix-lecti,

The weather forecast can seem wrong sometimes, but they have to err on the side of caution a bit. Also, there is not a computer on earth that can model extremely complex met systems with the sort of accuracy you are after.

In my opinion, the TAF is working fine - don't fix it. Reading the code becomes second nature with a bit of practice.