ATIS Update & Rules?

[slater]

Is there a rule stating when the atis must be updated?

People I work with (dark side of the watch) lose thier shit when the atis is 5 mins late. I cant find a defined answer of when an atis is considered late.

Does your facility deal with this nonsense? I mean were pulling planes apart, but stand by sir. I must cut the atis.

Thanks.

 

[sizziano]

Is there a rule stating when the atis must be updated?

People I work with (dark side of the watch) lose thier shit when the atis is 5 mins late. I cant find a defined answer of when an atis is considered late.

Does your facility deal with this nonsense? I mean were pulling planes apart, but stand by sir. I must cut the atis.

Thanks.

The book just states to make a new recording upon receipt of new official weather observation. No specific time frame.

 

[16gtiguy]

Agree with sizziano, there are reason why it should be cut but nothing that I know of that says “within X number of minutes”. Our weather is posted at 53 and it normally posts before 00 but on occasion I have seen it even later than that.

 

[slater]

Agree with sizziano, there are reason why it should be cut but nothing that I know of that says “within X number of minutes”. Our weather is posted at 53 and it normally posts before 00 but on occasion I have seen it even later than that.

Many times we are combined in the early AM. Working CD, GC, LC & CIC. Usually till about 8. There is a big departure push at 5:45-6:45am. If I am busy, I may be late, but by perhaps 10 mins of the usual XX:53Z time the new WX comes out. I'm not trying to say repeated offenses are okay, but there are times once in a long while an ATIS gets updated at the top of the hour(ish). To say the least, the Tracon downstairs enjoys harassing the tower with a reminder. Now, when I'm working Tracon, I usually wait till XX:15Z before respectfully asking for a new atis. Just seems trivial and nonsense. Today a fellow controller was given a hard time for being late to update and we tried to find a pub about its update requirement and didn't have any luck.

 

[ajmezz]

I can’t cite a reference but I feel like I remember reading somewhere that you have until 10-15 past to get the latest wx updated. Our wx is done by the local Air Force dept and it populates at xx56 automatically, then we just type it in. Nobody throws a fit if we’re busy and can’t get to it immediately though. If you end up finding anything be sure and post it here.

 

[KnockKnock]

We're a lawrs augmented station; official weather posts at xx52 and most people wait until then. However, we do have a few that feel they can use their lawrs ability to do the ATIS at 46 w/ "unofficial" weather because they're a certified observer.

Any thoughts from the peanut gallery? 7900.5 is a little ambiguous.

 

[MJ]

If they're a certified weather observer, their observation is official.

But I think by definition a METAR is hourly. If there's nothing warranting a SPECI, there's not a reason for a new observation.

 

[KnockKnock]

If they're a certified weather observer, their observation is official.

But I think by definition a METAR is hourly. If there's nothing warranting a SPECI, there's not a reason for a new observation.

IIRC the metar is within the last 15', so 45-59 is valid.

To me it sounds like as an augmented station, the automatic weather sensor is official and while we as certified observers are responsible for amending it and ensuring accuracy, it is responsible for transmitting the official weather. If it were solely up to us to observe and disseminate, we would be a manual station.

 

[GMX]

If one was a certified observer, and the ASOS generated METAR shows, say 2.5 SM visibility, but the observer can see that it's 3.0 SM, do they augment and cut the ATIS at 3.0 SM or use the lower value?

 

[MJ]

If one was a certified observer, and the ASOS generated METAR shows, say 2.5 SM visibility, but the observer can see that it's 3.0 SM, do they augment and cut the ATIS at 3.0 SM or use the lower value?

Whichever makes me have to work less.

 

[OhG]

We change ours each weather posting, but also when there's significant changes to field conditions. Taxiway closure, bird activity changes, runway change, etc.

 

[slater]

If one was a certified observer, and the ASOS generated METAR shows, say 2.5 SM visibility, but the observer can see that it's 3.0 SM, do they augment and cut the ATIS at 3.0 SM or use the lower value?

You edit the obervation to show 3sm in the wx menu. Thats what we do. Prevailing.....