Hello, all.
I've been flying in New Zealand the last few weeks where overcast conditions below 1000ft have been the morning norm, so I've noted this issue for at least a couple of weeks. When Live Data pulled METAR contains the '///' modifier for overcast cloud cover, no overcast layer appears in the sim. As an example, the current METAR for NZCH that I just tried is:
NZCH 031600Z AUTO 02004KT 9999 OVC007/// 09/08 Q1026 TEMPO BKN010
If I manually configure an overcast layer, the weather engine includes it. If I select an airport in some other part of the world which I know is also overcast but reported without '///', then the weather engine includes the reported overcast layer as per the METAR report at the new airport. As far as I can tell, the layer is only dismissed in cases where overcast is reported as 'OVCnnn///', at least in New Zealand.
As always, I'm probably just doing something wrong. But I thought I'd mention in just in case it is a small system problem. Thanks.
04 May 2015 Edit
Having a closer look, I realize that it is not just the overcast layer that is being affected by some kind of failure to parse '///' in the METAR string. QNH/inHG, temperatures, additional cloud layers, effectively anything in the METAR string touching *or after* the '///' is not showing up in FG weather. I looked at /environment/metar/data (containing the actual METAR string) and all of the information is there. However, looking at /environment/metar/pressure-inhg, /environment/metar/pressure-sea-level-inhg, /environment/metar/temperature-degc, and any of the cloud layers shows that none of the information from the METAR string is getting through.
If I manually edit the /environment/metar/data string and remove the '///', all of the information in the METAR report is instantly updated in the sim. That's a temporary way to get around it, but it will be overwritten on the next METAR grab so doesn't help in the long run.
Hopefully that info will allow someone who knows more about the METAR parsing to see what's happening. Thanks again.
-- Mike