NWS WX OBSERVER WILL NOT AUGMENT WX FROM ASOS DURING RAPIDLY CHANGING WX AND WX THE ASOS DOES NOT RPT.
Synopsis
NWS WX OBSERVER WILL NOT AUGMENT WX FROM ASOS DURING RAPIDLY CHANGING WX AND WX THE ASOS DOES NOT RPT.
Narrative
MY CONCERN IS FOR THE SAFETY OF ACFT; CREW; PAX OF ACFT FLYING INTO AND OUT OF THE NEW DENVER INTL ARPT. INSTEAD OF HAVING A LCL WX OBSERVER; WE ARE DEPENDING ON THE AUTOMATED SURFACE OBSERVATION SYS (ASOS) TO TAKE OUR OBSERVATIONS. FROM WHAT I UNDERSTAND; THERE IS A PERSON TO CHK THE OBSERVATIONS DONE BY ASOS BUT CAN'T PUT ANY SIGNIFICANT WX REMARKS. DENVER IS KNOWN FOR ITS FREQUENT; VIOLENT TSTMS IN THE SPRING AND SUMMER MONTHS. BECAUSE THE MACHINE CAN'T 'SEE' TSTMS; VIRGA; TWRING CUMULUS; CUMULUS; LIGHTNING; ETC. SOMEONE LISTENING TO OUR ATIS HAS NO IDEA OF THE WX SURROUNDING AND TODAY ALONE; I CAN SEE LEVEL 1-4 TSTMS WITHIN 20 MI TWRING CUMULUS; CUMULUS; VIRGA; WIND SHEARS WITHIN 10 MI. THE PLTS KNOW NOTHING ABOUT THIS WX. WE ALSO HAVE RTE RESTRS OUT OUR N AND W GATES CAUSED BY THE WX. THIS IS A DAILY OCCURRENCE. ONCE IN A WHILE 'VIRGA' WILL BE ON THE ASOS OBSERVATION BUT NO DIRECTION IS GIVEN. WE BUILT A 5 BILLION DOLLAR ARPT THAT WORKS FANTASTIC. HOW ABOUT STAFFING A WX OBSERVER; INSTEAD OF RELYING ON A MECH THAT CAN'T SEE DANGEROUS WX THAT SURROUNDS US! CALLBACK CONVERSATION WITH RPTR REVEALED THE FOLLOWING INFO: RPTR STATED WX OBSERVER WILL NOT UPDATE THE ASOS WX OR ADD REMARKS WHEN REQUESTED BY THE TWR WHEN THEY CAN SEE WX NOT RPTED BY ASOS. CONTACTED ATCT PROCS OFFICE WHO STATED THEY WERE NOT AWARE OF RPTRS UNSATISFACTORY CONDITION. SPECIALIST STATED THAT THE NWS HAS A CONTRACT PERSON WHOSE DUTIES ARE TO AUGMENT THE ASOS RPTS; WHEN NECESSARY. ADVERSE WX ADVISORIES ARE PROCESSED AS THEY WERE BEFORE MOVING TO THE NEW ARPT LOCATION.
Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.