There’s an interesting ethics question here: If your ship’s location places you near a hurricane, should they just quietly upgrade you for free tenporarily so that you don’t sink?
That's the current weather conditions for Chicago O'Hare.
Looks like gibberish to you and me but airline captains know what it means and they know how old the observation is. Captain has ultimate authority on the ship, but also ultimate responsibility. It was his job to know what that weather report meant. And surprising to me if he didn't, since by other accounts he was experienced, organized, and safety-conscious.
You can't get licensed as a pilot without being able to read METARS. They will not let you fly. Find me a comparable licensure requirement for marine captains.
It's been many years, so I can't refer you to a specific paragraph in 46 CFR (https://www.law.cornell.edu/cfr/text/46/part-310), but during my training as a Merchant ship's officer I was required to (a) take a Meteorology 101 class, (b) read and understand data from the weather FAX at sea and (c) when on watch, make weather observations and report them to NOAA hourly.
it will take years of sea time and weeks of classes to even get your Able Seaman (AB) or 100 ton master license. If you want 500/1600 ton mate or masters then even more years of sea time and months of classes. All of these requirements are outlined by the Coast Guard, but they change the rules all the time. You are never really done; every five years, when you come up for your license renewal, you will have to take some refresher courses. Sadly, none of this may be completed while you are at work, but rather while you are on your off time. It is expensive to take these classes and while sometimes your company will pay for the classes, room, and board, don’t count on it.
Funnily enough I actually look at the KORD weather reports all the time and took the time to learn how to read pilot reports.
I think the difference is that captains are dealing with currents in the ocean and in the air. For the most part pilots are flying above things that will make the wind change in extremely short distances.
If you did this warnings, you would want to be on the safe side. So, there would be a lot of false positives. But, as a result, your customers would get accustomed to it and don't treat them seriously.
