13 May 1999
MEMORANDUM TO: Distribution
FROM: W/NP12 Bradley Ballish
SUBJECT: METAR Data with 665535 Group
A spurious 6 digit group 665535 has appeared in the METAR data
from some US METAR sites and should be ignored until the
problem can be fixed. Charles Anderson of Canada pointed this out
indicating that they seem to be only for automatic stations and
started first in Alaska, and then they have spread to the lower 48
states. It has not been easy to find out what this data group
means. Ray Downs of the US NWS suggested contacting the FAA
about the problem. Today I talked to Fred Gibbs of the FAA and he
said the data is spurious and is from AWOS sites only. For examples
of this data, see the attachment. Thanks are due to the many people
who helped research this problem.
Attachments
Distribution:
Charles.Anderson@xxxxxxxx
obs-xchange@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Ray.Downs@xxxxxxxx
Andy.Horvitz@xxxxxxxx
Fred.Gibbs@xxxxxxx
Duane.Kidwell@xxxxxxxx
CC:
Joe.Irwin@xxxxxxxx
Robert.Hollern@xxxxxxxx
ATTACHMENT
Sample METAR Data with the 665535 Group Follow
SAUS20 KNKA 290255
METAR KCEC 290255Z AUTO 34022G28KT 9SM CLR 09/05 A3019 RMK AO1
665535
SAUS20 KNKA 290855
METAR KBTP 290855Z 10007KT 10SM CLR 08/M02 A3018 RMK AO1 665535 TSNO=
SAUS20 KNKA 290855
METAR KFKL 290855Z AUTO 07005KT 10SM CLR 07/M03 A3022 RMK AO1 665535
TSNO
SAAK41 KNKA 290856
METAR PANI 290855Z AUTO 12007KT 10SM CLR 01/M03 A3015 RMK AO1 665535
TSNO
SAUS70 KWBC 290900
KBTP 290855Z 10007KT 10SM CLR 08/M02 A3018 RMK AO1 665535 TSNO=
SAUS20 KNKA 291455
METAR KUDG 291455Z AUTO 04011G22KT 10SM OVC012 10/08 A3005 RMK AO1
665535
