METAR in ONLINE mode isn't correct for my local time....

[Guest chris_1981]

Hi there,I wanted to check the weather in ONLINE mode.I have 'use system time' and 'auto time zone detection' I live in the Netherlands, so I have my UTC conversion set at 2GMT + 1 (+1 for Daylight saving)I started in Rotterdam, the local time was 1108 (0908Z)Only the problem is that Activesky wxRE calculated a METAR of 0755Z(SEE ATTACHMENTS)That is 1 hour earlier, so not the correct live weather. And in the docs it says that the METARS are issued every hour. So at the start of my flight there should have been a METAR of 855Z.Am I doing something wrong (I think all my settings are correct) The weather certainly didn't look like the real weather...It was raining quite hard in real life, and there was only scattered clouds in the sim. Any help is greatly appreciated.Thanks,Christiaan Gorter

[JSkorna 137]

Yes, your settings do look right. Keep in mind that AS does not read the clock in FS, but your system clock. So, was the METAR correct for the time on your computer clock? Also, be aware that the clock in FS is not set for DST and there are many timezone errors in it's database. Post back!!Hope this helps,JimActiveSky Support

[Damian Clark 1,235]

Hi Christiaan,Your settings look fine. It looks like the latest available report for Rotterdam WAS 0755Z. The 0855Z report (they are normally issued every hour, 5-10 minutes before the top of the hour) wasn't yet transmitted and/or processed through the NOAA database. Quite normal for non-US stations.Normally in this case, TAF processing should kick in (TAF processing is designed specifically for this situtation) and if you look at the TAF, starting at 12Z rain and broken ceiling is expected. But since the 12Z TAF element start time wasn't closer to your current time 0908Z than the METAR time, the METAR was used. Since you say the rain / ceiling started earlier than that, the forecast was simply off and the weather system moved in quicker than expected. I think this is a fairly rare occurance - Again, normally (sometimes!) the forecast more accurately predicts when rain systems move in. If you would have waited another few minutes the 0855Z report would have most likely kicked in, with the rain and ceiling properly depicted. Even if no other METAR report came in (station outage?) the 12Z taf element would have been relevent starting at 1026Z (a bit over an hour later).These lags in data are something that we have to live with, but as you see, wxRE goes one step further than any other wx system by incorporating TAF element processing. While this works good most of the time, it isn't always accurate (as you have found) and you aren't always going to see exact changes in the sim according to real life when it comes to rain/wx systems. They move unpredictibly and quickly. But this is an area I have been working on for quite some time, and some AS2 advancements will be apparent in this department. We'll also see advancements in wx reporting technology and I wouldn't be surprised to see more up-to-date reporting for non-US stations in the very near future.-Damian

[Guest chris_1981]

Thanks for the answers Tim and Damian!To answers Tim's question: I set the local time in FS the same as my system clock. So I expected the same METAR (close to) my local time.Damian: In the USA I also experienced the fact that the METAR was 1 hour earlier, or as you name it, that it wasn't issued yet.Also I'm still experiencing quite often that the updated weather kicks in quite fast. Like BAM and there are clouds.....Final questions: 1)Correct me if I'm wrong: when flying real time in the USA, do I have to keep the same UTC conversion (2) for the place where I live? I don't have to change that when flying in another place around the world? 2)When in OFFLINE MODE, you dowload a METAR of a specific hour, after that it automatically updates the METAR again?3)Which .wxd file do I have to choose in OFFLINE MODE? There are three of them?Thanks for your time,Christiaan

[JSkorna 137]

1. Keep the same conversion. AS does not read your FS clock, it reads your system clock.2. No, in Offline Mode you download a whole set of METARs of a specific hour and if you want the next hour's, then you must re-download.3. Choose a cycle##Z.wxd file.Hope this helps,JimActiveSky Support

[Guest chris_1981]

Thanks Jim!Only flying in ONLINE mode doesn't work for me I guess....The METARS that are downloaded keep 1 or 2 hours or more behind!For example: I'm flying at 1355z time and the METAR that is downloaded (enroute) says 0700z and my destination METAR says 1125zwhereas I expect at least a enroute METAR of 1255z or something like that.Could you comment on this, guys? Because I haven't had a 'synchronous' METAR since I started using AS.Christiaan

[Damian Clark 1,235]

The METAR is download from NOAA.. the latest available is used. If the latest available is old, you will get an old METAR. Sorry, nothing we can do about this.. it doesn't happen that often. Some areas are "slower" than others. You will never get a 'synchronous' METAR. Our wx source is more timely than most others, too.-Damian

[JSkorna 137]

Christiaan,I just tried EHRD and yes, the METAR was one hour behind. At this point I conclude that it is a slow reporting station.Hope this helps,JimActiveSky Support