TonyT wrote:Read the fine print folks...
The 3 hourly data are SYNOPS from automatic weather stations, not METARs from real observers. There is quite a difference, not least in the 3 hour resolution. I dont think Metvuw or anyone else can receive the internal Metars let alone publish them. Its something to do with an arrangement Metservice have with Airways Corporation whereby MS provide forecasts for general aviation use in exchange for Airways staff doing the observations.
AFAIK there is nothing in the WMO directives requiring international dissemination of METARs from non-international airports. However, they do require (not sure if its "require" or "encourage" or some other similar word) the exchange of SYNOPs, which is why our SYNOPs end up on web sites all over the world, and why MS eventually decided to publish them locally. There was a time, many years ago, when we had no access to local SYNOPS from within NZ, we had to get them from international sites. The only way to get them direct from MS was to pay for them (and a very high price was asked IIRC). Fortunately the Commerce Commission helped sort out that issue.
When it comes to weather-related outfits, I've decided that it must all be a matter of National Security.
For instance when I recently contacted a certain organization with the letters "N", "I", "W" and "A" in their title regards the possibility of sharing data from sites they administer at various airports here in the Mackenzie with that from my own, they hit my weather station sites hard for a while, but not one person ever bothered to reply in any shape or form.
Same deal with a guy with the letters "M", "E", "T", "V", "U" and "W" in the title of his site: never a single reply or response to my enquiries.
Yes, the only rational conclusion which can be drawn is that weather stuff is way too important for the likes of us. Maybe I should consider myself lucky that an antiterrorsit S.W.A.T. team didn't get me.
, which must be sourcing it from the met service raw data at
