Ron, Post the logfile. I just checked the data for PAO and its not currently reporting a flight category so the software is trying to decode, but obviously not doing it correctly. This is a back up in case the FAA doesn't report a flight category in the returned data. I don't know why this happens from time to time, but it does. 

So I'll have to look at the logic of this back up decode routine to see why this is happening. Once the FAA reports the flight category, the LED will display the correct color.

Here's the current data being returned;

<METAR>
<raw_text>KPAO 031747Z VRB04KT 4 SMSM BR OVC008 09/09 A3030</raw_text>
<station_id>KPAO</station_id>
<observation_time>2021-01-03T17:47:00Z</observation_time>
<latitude>37.47</latitude>
<longitude>-122.12</longitude>
<temp_c>9.0</temp_c>
<dewpoint_c>9.0</dewpoint_c>
<wind_dir_degrees>0</wind_dir_degrees>
<wind_speed_kt>4</wind_speed_kt>
<altim_in_hg>30.301182</altim_in_hg>
<wx_string>BR</wx_string>
<sky_condition sky_cover="OVC" cloud_base_ft_agl="800"/>
<metar_type>METAR</metar_type>
<elevation_m>2.0</elevation_m>

Notice that there is no 'flight_category' field. Compare it to my home airport KFLG;

<METAR>
<raw_text>KFLG 031757Z 19005KT 10SM FEW110 04/M09 A3020 RMK AO2 SLP222 T00391094 10044 21106 50007</raw_text>
<station_id>KFLG</station_id>
<observation_time>2021-01-03T17:57:00Z</observation_time>
<latitude>35.13</latitude>
<longitude>-111.67</longitude>
<temp_c>3.9</temp_c>
<dewpoint_c>-9.4</dewpoint_c>
<wind_dir_degrees>190</wind_dir_degrees>
<wind_speed_kt>5</wind_speed_kt>
<visibility_statute_mi>10.0</visibility_statute_mi>
<altim_in_hg>30.200787</altim_in_hg>
<sea_level_pressure_mb>1022.2</sea_level_pressure_mb>
<quality_control_flags>
<auto_station>TRUE</auto_station>
</quality_control_flags>
<sky_conditionsky_cover="FEW"cloud_base_ft_agl="11000"/>
<flight_category>VFR</flight_category>
<three_hr_pressure_tendency_mb>0.7</three_hr_pressure_tendency_mb>
<maxT_c>4.4</maxT_c>
<minT_c>-10.6</minT_c>
<metar_type>METAR</metar_type>
<elevation_m>2134.0</elevation_m>

In this data, you'll see that the flight_category field is present. Thanks for point this out. - Mark

Here is the log file

Is there a way to interpret a flight category from the data if the FC is missing?

Yep, Here's the log message that confirms my theory; 

[I 210103 10:06:53 metar-v4:1150] KPAO Not Reporting Flight Category through the API.

I'll take a look at this, but not sure how long it will take to fix. But I will take a look into it. - Mark

Addition: Yes, there a routine to try to decode based on the rules set forth by the FAA for flight categories. These rules are based on ceiling and weather reported. Here's a chart;

#Flight Category Definitions. ( https://www.aviationweather.gov/taf/help?page=plot) 
#+--------------------------------------+---------------+-------------------------------+-------+----------------------------+
#|Category                              |Color          |Ceiling                        |       |Visibility                  |
#|--------------------------------------+---------------+-------------------------------+-------+----------------------------+
#|VFR Visual Flight Rules               |Green          |greater than 3,000 feet AGL    |and    |greater than 5 miles        |
#|MVFR Marginal Visual Flight Rules     |Blue           |1,000 to 3,000 feet AGL        |and/or |3 to 5 miles                |
#|IFR Instrument Flight Rules           |Red            |500 to below 1,000 feet AGL    |and/or |1 mile to less than 3 miles |
#|LIFR Low Instrument Flight Rules      |Magenta        | below 500 feet AGL            |and-or |less than 1 mile            |
#+--------------------------------------+---------------+-------------------------------+-------+----------------------------+
#AGL = Above Ground Level

@markyharris no worries, if things never get reported they can't be fixed. Maybe in the meantime a workaround would be better to mark it as WX not reporting?

I wanted to give a map to our club and I'm trying to head off the issue of people thinking the field is VFR when it's not. I was going to add a disclaimer to the map border anyways.

With PAO reporting OVC at 800' it should be marked as LIFR

I'm looking now. It would be helpful if you could change the log level to 'debug' in the basic settings, then run it a bit to log some data, then repost the logfile for me. Remember to reset the log level back to 'info' otherwise your map will run slower than normal due to all the info that needs to be written in 'debug' mode. Thanks for your help. - Mark

Here is the new log file in debug setting.

Hi guys,

Allow me to join this topic as I have noticed a few cases where the map displayed VFR weather, when it should be a lower category.

At first, I thought it had something to do with visibility being reported as "NDV" (No Directional Variation), but one example reports NDV and the correct category. Another example reports the ceiling as BKN///, which probably means it is cannot be measured. Detailed METARs attached.

I second Captain_Ron when he says these cases would be better off reported as WX not reporting.

Thanks!

Do me a favor; next time you see this discrepancy enter this link into a web browser;

 https://www.aviationweather.gov/adds/dataserver_current/httpparam?dataSource=metars&requestType=retrieve&format=xml&hoursBeforeNow=1.5&stationString=LSMM 

You'll need to substitute your particular airport at the end of this string. Then post the output here so I can see it at the time it happens. The question I need to answer is; Is the xml data not reporting a flight category and therefore the software is defaulting to VFR? If so, then it should be an easy fix in the script.

The output should look similar to this;

I replied to the email but I guess that doesn't make it to here so I'm pasting the 2 emails I sent.

Sent at 8:15

The map is showing a red light for IFR and flashing for snow at KMMH

Ron, you are right it is a timing issue. I have 4 boards in my office and there are many times where there is conflicting reports until the board updates again. I have all my boards setup to update every 15 minutes and with quick moving weather conditions, this may be too long between updates. So it may be wise for me to reduce the update time to 10 minutes to see how that works out. - Mark

@markyharris ok, I’ll change mine to 10 minutes and see how it goes. How often does the aviationweather site update the info?

The FAA updates its weather very quickly as conditions change. My understanding is that each airport that reports a METAR has it's own equipment on site that collects the data and sends it to the FAA to build the raw METAR data that we receive when we check METARs at the various airports. So as the information changes at a specific airport the data is sent directly to the FAA who then publishes the METAR. So I would say that METAR data is pretty close to live data. I'm sure there is a small delay, but not much of one. 

Here's an excerpt from the METAR Wikopedia;

METARs typically come from airports or permanent weather observation stations. Reports are generated once an hour or half-hour at most stations, but if conditions change significantly at a staffed location, a report known as a special (SPECI) may be issued. There are stations that make regular reports more often.(Such as KPLU which reports 3 per hour.) Some METARs are encoded by automated airport weather stations located at airports, military bases, and other sites. Some locations still use augmented observations, which are recorded by digital sensors, encoded via software, and then reviewed by certified weather observers or forecasters prior to being transmitted. Observations may also be taken by trained observers or forecasters who manually observe and encode their observations prior to transmission

So the inconsistency lies from the update period setup in the LiveSectional map settings.  I guess for truly live data, the setting would have to be set to 5 or 10 seconds, but I believe the FAA site wouldn't allow that. Though I've not tried that either. - Mark