C172 pilot complains of quality of WX report from ASOS generated ATIS information. Returning to roa,...

Attributes
ACN	378445
Time
Date	199708
Day	Mon
Local Time Of Day	1201 To 1800
Place
Locale Reference	airport : roa
State Reference	VA
Altitude	msl bound lower : 4500 msl bound upper : 4500
Environment
Flight Conditions	Mixed
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Operator	general aviation : personal
Make Model Name	Skyhawk 172/Cutlass 172
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 91
Navigation In Use	Other
Flight Phase	cruise other
Flight Plan	VFR
Person 1
Affiliation	Other
Function	flight crew : single pilot
Experience	flight time last 90 days : 45 flight time total : 780
ASRS Report	378445
Events
Anomaly	inflight encounter : weather other anomaly other
Independent Detector	other flight crewa
Resolutory Action	none taken : anomaly accepted
Consequence	Other
Supplementary
Primary Problem	Weather
Air Traffic Incident	other
Situations
ATC Facility	procedure or policy : unspecified

Narrative:

Departed roa for trip of 180 mi ese. Forecast scattered late afternoon showers and thunderstorms. Checked WX before heading home. Cwa's sigmets for thunderstorms bordering the roa area. Checked AWOS's and ATIS's once airborne, same thing. Listened to lyh ATIS and when about 100 mi out, roa's ATIS. (Also listened to hiwas vors as advertised on ATIS's.) the point of the report is that when I got roanoke's ATIS, about 100 mi (1 hour) out it was 10-ts RA few 034...(trying to write this the proper way)... Based on this report, there must have been a thunderstorm close enough to roa to hear thunder or see lightning, but not close enough to affect the clouds or visibility. There were no remarks indicating direction of the storm from the airport and the direction of movement. I believe these items are required to be on the metar report. The controllers just hit a key that says 'thunderstorm' and zippo. They have a metar or speci, but it's incomplete. We stayed low and VFR, visually idented showers southeast of roanoke, observed lightning east of roanoke and well north of us, and kept away from it all to a safe arrival. No thanks to the ASOS report. Augmentation of ASOS does not work at this airport.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: C172 PLT COMPLAINS OF QUALITY OF WX RPT FROM ASOS GENERATED ATIS INFO. RETURNING TO ROA, VA, HE ENCOUNTERED NUMEROUS TSTMS THAT HE HAD TO AVOID. WX RPT FAILED TO SPECIFY DIRECTION OF STORMS. PLT WAS VFR VMC.

Narrative: DEPARTED ROA FOR TRIP OF 180 MI ESE. FORECAST SCATTERED LATE AFTERNOON SHOWERS AND TSTMS. CHKED WX BEFORE HEADING HOME. CWA'S SIGMETS FOR TSTMS BORDERING THE ROA AREA. CHKED AWOS'S AND ATIS'S ONCE AIRBORNE, SAME THING. LISTENED TO LYH ATIS AND WHEN ABOUT 100 MI OUT, ROA'S ATIS. (ALSO LISTENED TO HIWAS VORS AS ADVERTISED ON ATIS'S.) THE POINT OF THE RPT IS THAT WHEN I GOT ROANOKE'S ATIS, ABOUT 100 MI (1 HR) OUT IT WAS 10-TS RA FEW 034...(TRYING TO WRITE THIS THE PROPER WAY)... BASED ON THIS RPT, THERE MUST HAVE BEEN A TSTM CLOSE ENOUGH TO ROA TO HEAR THUNDER OR SEE LIGHTNING, BUT NOT CLOSE ENOUGH TO AFFECT THE CLOUDS OR VISIBILITY. THERE WERE NO REMARKS INDICATING DIRECTION OF THE STORM FROM THE ARPT AND THE DIRECTION OF MOVEMENT. I BELIEVE THESE ITEMS ARE REQUIRED TO BE ON THE METAR RPT. THE CTLRS JUST HIT A KEY THAT SAYS 'TSTM' AND ZIPPO. THEY HAVE A METAR OR SPECI, BUT IT'S INCOMPLETE. WE STAYED LOW AND VFR, VISUALLY IDENTED SHOWERS SE OF ROANOKE, OBSERVED LIGHTNING E OF ROANOKE AND WELL N OF US, AND KEPT AWAY FROM IT ALL TO A SAFE ARR. NO THANKS TO THE ASOS RPT. AUGMENTATION OF ASOS DOES NOT WORK AT THIS ARPT.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of July 2007 and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.

C172 pilot complains of quality of WX report from ASOS generated ATIS information. Returning to roa, va, he encountered numerous thunderstorms that he had to avoid. WX report failed to specify direction of storms. Pilot was VFR VMC.