Let's play who can read this thing in the metar for me

[murl]

KMDW 252051Z 19011KT 3/4SM R31C/4500FT -SN BR BKN006 OVC013 01/01 A2940 RMK AO2 RAE26SNB15 SLP965 P0003 60004 T00060006 53014

KMDW 252101Z 252118 19012G18KT 1SM -SN BR OVC007 TEMPO 2124 1/2SM -SN FG OVC005 FM0000 21012KT 2SM -SN BR OVC005 FM0200 23010KT 2SM -SN BR OVC003 FM0800 26008KT 3SM -SN BR OVC006 FM1500 27010KT 5SM BR OVC010

I can read the rest but the part after the visibility R31C/4500FT? What's that mean? My friends have a flight out of mdw today and they were wondering if they were getting out and I didn't know what that one part meant. There flight departs at 0055z.

 

[av8rmsu]

runway 31 center...

RVR is 4500 feet

 

[Chris_Ford]

I'm pretty sure that's just runway visibility, not RVR...

 

[murl]

whats RVR? what are the mins for their flight to leave? It's SWA

 

[launchpad]

whats RVR? what are the mins for their flight to leave? It's SWA

Runway Visual Range.....basically a couple of sensors setup next to the runway to see how far the actual runway visibility is.........


usually, as long as the visibility at the airport is more than 1/4 mile or 1600 RVR, no one should have any problems departing. If it stays at 3/4, their flight might be late, but it will get in, and they'll be able to leave....most airlines also have provisions in their operations manuals that allow aircraft to takeoff with as little as 500 ft RVR....

In other news...my version of that metar:

It's cold, it's snowing, you can't see s*** and I'm glad I'm in California...

 

[Toria]

In other news...my version of that metar:

It's cold, it's snowing, you can't see s*** and I'm glad I'm in California...

Exactly what I thought too! Except I am in AZ.

 

[av8rmsu]

Runway Visual Range

i'm guessing SWA's mins are 600/600/600...don't know because it is company specific....which means it can be socked in.

They shouldn't have any problem leaving. There might be some delays due to weather.

 

[mikecweb]

Depends on their op specs but with 4500rvr midway is below minimums.

 

[murl]

Runway Visual Range

i'm guessing SWA's mins are 600/600/600...don't know because it is company specific....which means it can be socked in.

They shouldn't have any problem leaving. There might be some delays due to weather.

What's 600/600/600

 

[EDUC8-or]

Touchdown, midpoint, and rollout RVR is 600'. Unless they're landing with a tailwind on 31C, 4100' ain't enough to legally shoot the ILS.

 

[Jason]

Actually many operators are now being trained/tested to 500 RVR....particularly those which operate internationally. 500 RVR equals the 150 Meter measure that the rest of the civilized world uses.


Jason

 

[IrishSheepdog]

Depends on their op specs but with 4500rvr midway is below minimums.

That depends. For departures, they'll be able to depart with up to 600/600/600 RVR reporting (not sure if they have the 500/500/500 stipulation). So this flight should have been just fine to depart. Upon landing, yes, MDW has higher minimums than most airports. However, many carriers have specific approach minimums that are reduced per their Ops Specs. We had this at my previous airline for Runway 31C. We could go down to 2400 RVR (1/2 mile) if I remember correctly. We also had the 500/500/500 takeoff minimums.