When observations are omitted due to a lack of occurrence, what is the recommended action?

When observations are omitted due to a lack of occurrence, the preferred action is to omit them from the final report. This practice is recommended to maintain clarity and accuracy in reporting weather conditions. By removing these non-applicable observations, the final report reflects only the relevant and pertinent data that occurred during the observation period. This ensures that users of the report can focus on the actual reported events without the distraction of irrelevant or absent data points.

In professional meteorological reporting, it is important that the data presented is as concise and accurate as possible, allowing users, such as forecasters and researchers, to draw insights based on observed conditions rather than speculated or non-existent ones. Thus, omitting non-occurrences is aligned with best practices in data reporting within meteorology.

The other actions, while they may seem logical in different contexts, could lead to confusion or misinterpretation of the weather data. For example, listing data as "not applicable" or using the abbreviation "NULL" may create ambiguity about the conditions observed, while making notes in comments could detract from the main data presentation and complicate the report unnecessarily.