Sky Force and AS combo, a couple of issues

[eolsson 0]

I have now used SF together with AS some flights and for most of the time I like what I see. Two issues that I have so far:

1. Had a not so good experience yesterday. Started at ESNN and the METAR said overcast 2500ft. The overcast looked nice from the ground. Took off and got into the cloud at about 4000ft, continued the climb and got out in the sun at about 15000ft. So the cloud was more than 10000ft thick. This time of the year such a thick cloud would have produced at least a moderate snowfall, nothing reported in the METAR. So the question is; how is the cloudtop determined? No information about that in the METAR. Is it random or is it an educated guess? An educated guess would be to use the precip/noprecip info from the METAR and make the cloud thin if there is no precipitation and thicker if precipitation is observed. A nearby temperature sounding showed in this case that the cloud thickness was around 2000ft.

2. Another flight over France a couple of days ago with kind of a scattered/broken high cloud cover. Was cruising at FL370 and had what I thought looked like water clouds around me at that level. They have kind of a "rough" texture, they are not as smooth white as ice clouds normally look. Water clouds are rarely seen at that level over central Europe. I think I have seen the same from other screenshots of cumulonimbus tops/anvils. They don't have the "threaded" look I would like to see.

Any comments?

Esbjörn