What the kind of weather report is this anyway?
Posted Jan 12, 2011, 6:22 PM UTC
2511
It's probably taken from a METAR (aviation weather) from Boston. Looking at the record from earlier today:
SPECI KBOS 121822Z 31016G27KT 1/4SM R04R/3000V4500FT SN BLSN FZFG SCT005 OVC013 M02/M03 A2920 RMK AO2 PK WND 30029/1801 SFC VIS 1/2 P0000 $=
That's at 1822 GMT (so, 1:22PM local). The "SN BLSN FZFG" decodes exactly as "Snow Blowing Snow Freezing Fog".
3
Oh, and if anyone's interested, here's the decoding of the full metar:
SPECI - Special (not just a regular hourly report, used whenever weather is "bad")
KBOS - Boston airport code
121822Z - The 12th of the month, 1822 GMT time
31016G27KT - Winds coming from 310 degrees, 16 knots, gusting to 27 knots
1/4SM - Quarter mile visibility
R04R/3000V4500FT - Runway 4-right has visibility between 3000 and 4500 feet
SN BLSN FZFG - Snow blowing snow freezing fog
SCT005 - Scattered clouds at 500 feet
OVC013 - Overcast clouds at 1300 feet
M02/M03 - Temperature -2 Celsius, dewpoint -3 Celsius
A2920 - Barometric pressure 29.20 inches of Mercury
RMK - Remarks (basically, "other")
AO2 - Automated site with precipitation sensor
PK WND 30029/1801 - Peak winds were at 1801 GMT, out of 300 degrees, at 29 knots
SFC VIS 1/2 - Surface visibility half a mile
P0000 - Hourly precipitation 0 (this is probably in error)
9
Sweet, makes sense. Thanks for the full explanation. I like that weather underground is essentially providing the raw data, pretty cool.
1
Happy Reddit Brithday dude!
1
One that lacks commas.
2
Snow
Blowing Snow
i.e. a lot of fucking snow
2
A New England weather report.
2
Happy birthday, have some snow blowing snow freezing fog.
1
Is this the NE version of The Mist?
1
The fog is cold enough to freeze the snow... which is blowing?
1
Freezing fog? Sounds like a Pokemon move.