PLT037: Radar Weather Reports
What code PLT037 covers, why the FAA tests it, and how to study Radar Weather Reports before your checkride.
Interpret a Radar Weather Report / National Convective Weather Forecast
What this means for your checkride
A radar weather report and the convective forecast products describe precipitation and thunderstorm activity detected by weather radar: location, coverage, intensity, cell movement, and tops. Radar shows precipitation, which stands in for storm intensity, not turbulence directly.
Radar products help a pilot route around convection, so the FAA tests reading coverage, intensity, and movement, and understanding the limits of radar.
Pilots read radar as showing turbulence. It shows precipitation; severe turbulence, hail, and shear can extend well outside the returns, so give storms wide margins.
Where to study it
A code on your test report is an area of deficiency. An authorized instructor must review it with you and endorse that review before you take the practical test, and the examiner may revisit it during the oral. Study it until you can explain it out loud, not just recognize the answer.