Inexplicably Bogus METAR Data

[WeatherBeacon]

Hey all!

Lunch break, so I thought I'd post this question.

Just recently the METAR data on my web page (generated by VWS) are bugged up. I have made no changes to either VWS or to my htx template, so I don't know why I'm suddenly getting bad METAR info.

My wife noticed it first. This morning she told me that the "airport's wind chill" reported on my web page has been stuck at 0.4^oF all week. I checked the web page, and sure enough: 0.4^oF.

I opened that page's htx template in NotePad to look at the wind chill tag, and it looked fine. Then it got weirder! I closed NotePad without making any changes, and now the web page is doing this: the "wind chill" (tag ^mtr016KFNT^) it's printing mtr016KFNT on my web page, the "sky condition" (tag ^mtr013KFNT^) it's printing mtr013KFNTon my web page, etc.

You can see for yourself here:

     http://www.wxbeacon.com/vws/current.php

I'm using VWS 12.08P11. Yes, I know I could "upgrade", but I've never had a need to. What befuddles me is that I have not changed any VWS settings, nor have I changed my htx template in any way that would cause this behavior.

Anyone have any ideas (besides upgrading)?

Thanks!

Kevin...

[SteveFitz1]

Kevin,

I was having the same problem. I went into VWS and changed the Metar feed setting from Hamweather to NOAA. Everything is running fine now.

Steve

[jwyman]

I ran into the smae issue with NOAA vs. Hamweather. I had to switch over to NOAA to get the correct and updated METAR.....

??????

Jim

[Anthony]

I noticed the same problem 2 or 3 days ago. As indicated I switched over to NOAA and so far everything has been fine. A friend on mine who also uses VWS e-mailed me today and said his had stopped updating completely.

[WeatherBeacon]

Thanks guys...all three of you! I'll try that change when I get home from work. I'll let you know.

Regards,

Kevin...


EDIT:  Oops! Sorry. This topic was begun earlier in the day. Although I searched before I posted, I didn't see the earlier topic as it didn't occur to me that HamWeather might be the problem.

   http://www.wxforum.net/index.php?topic=3186.0

[WeatherBeacon]

Well, I switched from HamWeather to NOAA and still no success. Are there any additional settings I need to change?

Here's my METAR File:

LocationLast Update           Temp   Dew  HtIx Chill %Rh   Press  Rain  Wind  Wind  Wind Visib Cloud Sky/Weather
      Date and Time           °F    °F    °F    °F   %      in    in   Dir   Spd  Gust miles   kft  

Looks pretty empty to me.

Thanks!

[SteveFitz1]

Did you re-cycle VWS? I don't know that's it required, but it can't hurt. 

Steve

[WeatherBeacon]

Did you re-cycle VWS? I don't know that's it required, but it can't hurt. 

Steve

Good idea, Steve. I didn't think of that.

Okay, I shut down and restarted VWS, but still no change.

Kevin...

[jwyman]

Just food for thought Kevin...

CLick on your METAR selection:

1) Make sure your METAR station of choice is on the list and first

2) Make sure your schedule for data retrieval is set and on NOAA

FWIW..

Jim

[blackjack52]

I've always used NOAA, and frankly never really knew you could select Ham.  Is it just an alt server for the same data

[kray1000]

I've always used NOAA, and frankly never really knew you could select Ham.  Is it just an alt server for the same data

Yes.  It's usually faster than NOAA.

Kevin, if you want, you can try sending the .htx file to me and I'll preview it.  That should tell us if it's something with your VWS installation.  (Also, what city are you using for the mtr013KFNT tag, and how do you have it entered in your METAR list?)

[W Thomas]

I switched my feed as well day before yesterday due to my VWS USA page showing one icon while the METAR report is showing another.
Didn't totally correct my situation..acts a lot like that part of the .htx file is getting METAR data from some source other than the station I selected.
That is the correct location from which it obtains its info correct ??

Other than that V14 has been really good to me

[racenet]

I have sent a message to Joe about this. Waiting for a reply.



Bob

[WeatherBeacon]

Kevin, if you want, you can try sending the .htx file to me and I'll preview it.  That should tell us if it's something with your VWS installation, or if it's WU.  (Also, what city are you using for the mtr013KFNT tag, and how do you have it entered in your METAR list?)

My METAR city is Flint, MI. It shows as

            KFNT,Flint, MI, USA

in my METAR list.

I'm stumped. The METARs had been working fine since I installed VWS 2+ years ago. The METARs went wonky just this week sometime. I hadn't changed any METAR settings. I can't explain it. You know, one day earlier this week I happened to notice that the METAR wind chill was 30 above (or so) even though the outside temp was about 0.

In the past half hour I processed and uploaded to my site three previous versions of my htx file (I always keep copies), but it gave the same bogus results as before. It's as though VWS isn't pulling the METAR data from either HamWeather or NOAA.

K...

EDIT:  Fixed two wrong words for clarity.

[kray1000]

Sounds like the METAR station is down.  Maybe try a different station until this is resolved.  Is this happening with other METARs too?

[racenet]

Are the Metars from Hamweather working for everyone now?

Got a reply from Joe and mine are now working.



Bob
 

[WeatherBeacon]

Are the Metars from Hamweather working for everyone now?

Got a reply from Joe and mine are now working.

Bob

Yep. Metars from HamWeather are working again. Thanks, Bob ... and Joe!

Kevin...

[kray1000]

It's as though VWS isn't pulling the METAR data from either HamWeather or NOAA.

No need to worry about NOAA if Hamweather is working I guess. 

[racenet]

Good deal. Glad to hear they are working for everyone again.

Thanks Joe!



Bob

[WeatherBeacon]

It's as though VWS isn't pulling the METAR data from either HamWeather or NOAA.

No need to worry about NOAA if Hamweather is working I guess. 

Thanks for the help, Kevin!

K...

[Anthony]

Mine are still updating this morning and vws is set to retrieve from NOAA. Guess I will leave it set they way it is.

[racenet]

Anthony,

Do you send your data to Hamweather? If so, I suggest that you pull your metars from there, since it is much faster then the weather service.




Bob

[bcavnaugh]

Kevin,
I was having the same problem. I went into VWS and changed the Metar feed setting from Hamweather to NOAA. Everything is running fine now.
Steve

All I got was 0.0 for all but mine.
This is what I did, but then set it back to Hamweather.
NDS Weather

[WeatherBeacon]

I have a related question for those who know:

My overriding questions in all this are simply:

How often are METAR data collected and published?

and

What schedule (METAR > METAR Settings) should one use to have VWS retrieve the METAR data from HamWeather?


Certainly the METAR data are not published continuously.

I'm assuming that METAR data are collected by NOAA and that HamWeather retrieves that data from NOAA somehow. Is that correct?

Do the METAR data come from the same source as the Mesonet data? Isn't it true that most Mesonet data are updated by NOAA generally at 53 minutes past the hour? If so, then there would be little reason to have VWS download the METAR data more than once hourly.

I ask because when I checked my METAR Observation Report (METAR > METAR Settings > METAR Observation Report) shortly before 11:00AM, the time of the last update was 8:53AM. I clicked the "Update Now" button and it made no difference. So the data in my report (and consequently on my web site) were almost 2 hours old.

Bizarre: I checked my VWS METAR Observation Report at 11:25AM, and it was last updated at 10:08AM (making it about 90 minutes old). Clicking "Update Now" made no difference. Ironically, when I read my Observation Report shortly before 11:00AM, it showed data from 8:53AM (not the data from 10:08AM). Then at 11:31AM I clicked "Update Now", and then my Report showed that the data were updated at 10:53AM. (There comes the :53 past the hour again.)

So it appears that there might be a significiant delay either between the time the METAR data are collected and published, or between the time the METAR data are collected and retrieved by HamWeather.

Someone please explain?

Main question:

What schedule (METAR > METAR Settings) should one use to have VWS retrieve the METAR data from HamWeather?

Regards,

Kevin...

EDIT:  The main reason this is important to me is that my kids' school checks the METAR's wind chill from my web site in order to make certain decisions. I would therefore like to better understand how this works. (I'm afraid they lost faith in my METAR data this past week when it went south on me...no offense to my countrymen in the south ).

[SteveFitz1]

Kevin,

It's my understanding that METARs are updated hourly unless the weather is rapidly changing. Here's a link where you can check all the METARs issued at a location up to the past 36 hours.

http://adds.aviationweather.noaa.gov/metars/

I looked at your location (KFNT, I presume). In general it's updated at 53 past the hour, although there are a few entries between the 53's. As far as VWS is concerned, I update my METARs every 15 minutes just to make sure I catch any changes during the hour.

Steve