Automated Weather

Amos Heckendorf writes: ... Have any of you tried the new automated weather that has replaced the 1-800-WXBRIEF ? It is at 1-877-484-2799 and is a computer generated TIBBS for the entire country.

I tried it and like the pace of the language and the annunciation from the computer voice. The Bridgeport recordings were high speed announcements akin to the disclaimers you can hear at the end of radio ads, and I would always have to replay them to get all the information.

However, of the things that I found missing were the forecast weather and the winds aloft. If I am unaware of something here, please let me know how to find these on this service.

What I didn't like though was that when I wanted to talk to a briefer, on Saturday which was a clear blue sky day, they were busy. Perhaps these are start-up glitches, or the briefers were away and moving from Bridgeport to central command.

Any other observations would be appreciated. I suppose we could then summarize and forward these to flight service so they have an appreciation for what they have done. So far, I don't feel as safe with this as with the prior system, and it forces me to find the information elsewhere, so what is the point to that automation?

Amos

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Comments

Tried it today (7 May) - found forecast (multiple airports) and winds aloft at the end of the briefing. Would prefer a longer pause between reports on specific airports so my notes can catch up with the briefer!

-- DavidLibbey - 07 May 2007

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-- AmosHeckendorf - 24 Apr 2007