"Bob Cox" wrote ...
I live about a mile from Filton aerodrome (EGTG) and have recently
been
getting the METAR and TAF reports by FTP from NOAA
(ftp://tgftp.nws.noaa.gov/) snip
However, Filton seems not to publish these reports all the time (the
last METAR yesterday afternoon was at 1520, ISTR) and this may well
be
because it is not a 24/7 active airfield, yet observations from
there
are finding their way to the Met Office at least hourly - as seen at
http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/weather/...t_weather.html

.... there is, but you will need to know how to decode a SYNOP report.

The feed that populates the Met Office web site is from the
fully-automatic AWS at the airfield, with the
station number 03628; the METARs for EGTG, as you have worked out, are
only issued when ATC are open - they will use the same basic data from
the local AWS unit, but it is presented to the duty ATCO before
transmission in that format; the SYNOP leaves the airfield untouched -
this happens from many airfields now around the country.

Although the SYNOPs do get issued hourly overnight etc., on the
Internet we don't get to see them as routine as they are not declared
as part of the 'Resolution 40' regime which allows such data to reach
the public domain.

Martin.



--
Martin Rowley
E:
W: booty.org.uk