FAA Private Pilot Helicopter (PRH)WeatherHard
A pilot receives a METAR that includes the remark '+TSRA' at an airport along the route of flight. What does this notation indicate?
- ALight rain showers with distant thunderstorm activity
- BA heavy thunderstorm with rain occurring at the station
- CLight thunderstorm activity with no precipitation reaching the ground
- DA moderate thunderstorm that has ended within the last hour
Show answer & explanationAnswer & explanation
Correct answer: B. A heavy thunderstorm with rain occurring at the station
In METAR coding, a plus sign (+) preceding a weather group indicates heavy intensity, 'TS' denotes thunderstorm, and 'RA' denotes rain. Therefore '+TSRA' reports a heavy thunderstorm with rain currently occurring at the reporting station—a hazardous condition pilots should avoid.
Why the other options are wrong
- A. A '+' indicates heavy intensity at the station, not light or distant activity.
- C. '+TSRA' explicitly includes 'RA' (rain), meaning precipitation is reaching the ground.
- D. There is no time qualifier in '+TSRA' indicating the storm has ended; it reports current conditions.
METAR Weather Intensity Coding
METAR weather phenomena are prefixed with intensity qualifiers: '−' for light, no symbol for moderate, and '+' for heavy.
- '+' prefix = heavy intensity; '-' prefix = light intensity; no symbol = moderate
- TS = thunderstorm, RA = rain, common combined as TSRA
- VC prefix means 'in the vicinity' (5-10 miles from the station)
- Recency indicators like RE (recent) can also appear, e.g., 'RETS'
Memory trick: '+' means Plenty (heavy), '-' means Little (light), blank means moderate