>>>So they never report IFR conditions???>That's weird, and while irritating to us because that causes>FS weather utilities to depict the wrong weather, how about>the real world?>If true, wouldn't this be a safety issue? Whenever I've looked they do report reduced visibility on the ground, so pilots will know not to fly in if it's below their minimums, so there's not a safety problem there.However it could be a problem for some non-instrument-rated private pilot, who found a cloud layer developing under him as he went along. Ideally he should do a 180 to regain his view of the ground; however he may take a chance on an airport reporting BKN cover, reckoning he could get down through a gap in the clouds - he'd end up very disappointed :-(

Paul I was in Leeds with a pressurised 340 a week ago and spent three hours there before flying to Paris Le Bourget and then back to the south UK :-)Broken can often appear overcast especially flying above clouds because of slant angle and the same is partially true viewed from the ground.On the whole cloudbase reports tend to be negative to true values as reporters tend to the side of caution."few" at 500 feet usually means nothing at all.Flying above broken or overcast clouds is irrelevant its how high those clouds are above cumulo granitus that counts ;-)NB This is what Leeds looked like a week ago so you cant always complain of Leeds weather / I was there today also and the weather was pretty rubbish so maybe you can complain :-)and just added a shot coasting out to Le Bourget at FL170Peterhttp://forums.avsim.net/user_files/119476.jpghttp://forums.avsim.net/user_files/119478.jpghttp://forums.avsim.net/user_files/119479.jpg

> I was there today also and> the weather was pretty rubbish And was it OVC when you flew in today, Peter? The METAR's were BKN, but it would confirm my theory if you found it was actually overcast.

At 3000 feet it was pretty solid, no breaks up or down. At 2000 feet you occasionally got a glimpse to lower cloud and flashes of ground below.Cloud bases were variable between 800 and 1300 feet. About 1430 local this had dropped as had the visibility then at 1530 local there was an improvement.In the aircraft because you are almost looking horizontaly through the cloud the angle makes you miss the breaks.The old way used to be cloud coverage ie 6/8 broken 7/8 broken etc and this was probably a more realistic way of determining the level of how broken the clouds were rather than just using Broken.Leeds is fairly high up so the cloudbases are lower and it is forever windy :-) other than when I took my pictures.Another picture in the 340 flying back from Le Bourget over the south coast at night :-)Peterhttp://forums.avsim.net/user_files/119514.jpg