john smith wrote in message ...
Thanks Jay.
You just reminded me to add another item to my FSS weather
briefing/preflight checklist...
Inquire/Call for destination runway conditions!

John,

When you say inquire/call do you mean call the airport?

It's the only way.

I learned early on that small rural airports aren't good
about filing NOTAMs.

Worse, there's a systemic "gotcha": taxiway and ramp
conditions are considered "NOTAM-L"s and aren't available
beyond a short distance (200 miles I think). We once landed
at SGF after a 3 hr flight. The briefing had mentioned the
runway (center 200 ft plowed and sanded, braking action fair).
The briefing had failed to mention that the entire ramp and
taxiway system was covered w/ 2" of sheet ice -- because it
was a NOTAM-L and we were outside the "L" area when we took
off.

Cheers,
Sydney