ZLA controller described an unsafe condition event at psp when weather information provided was inco...

Narrative:

Psp was broadcasting below IFR minimums all morning; several aircraft were in holding; with several more already redirected to alternate airports. There was a crash fire rescue equipment release for psp and the surrounding airports. I noticed a speci was made at psp with weather stating it was VFR with visibility 7 and a FEW008 as the only layer of clouds. I immediately called psp tower and asked them what their weather conditions were. Controller stated visibility 3 OVC008. There could have been a dire outcome if people were released with this information. At this time I noticed that several more aircraft were steadily inbound to my sector with no where to land. Some approaches could be made but most were not available due to low ceilings. I had perhaps 5 to 6 aircraft in holding already and more steadily inbound. I believe that the weather reporting terminal that en route has should be more accurate and much faster in disseminating it and providing us with up to date information from the tower. I also recommend that perhaps its not needed in most situations with psp as it is typically a slow airport; that some manner of flow control be in place to psp when they do have to hold aka a stricter initiative from tmu would mitigate this.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: ZLA Controller described an unsafe condition event at PSP when weather information provided was incorrect resulting in some unnecessary holding; suggesting faster and more accurate weather dissemination.

Narrative: PSP was broadcasting below IFR minimums all morning; several aircraft were in holding; with several more already redirected to alternate airports. There was a CFR release for PSP and the surrounding airports. I noticed a SPECI was made at PSP with weather stating it was VFR with visibility 7 and a FEW008 as the only layer of clouds. I immediately called PSP Tower and asked them what their weather conditions were. Controller stated visibility 3 OVC008. There could have been a dire outcome if people were released with this information. At this time I noticed that several more aircraft were steadily inbound to my sector with no where to land. Some approaches could be made but most were not available due to low ceilings. I had perhaps 5 to 6 aircraft in holding already and more steadily inbound. I believe that the weather reporting terminal that en route has should be more accurate and much faster in disseminating it and providing us with up to date information from the Tower. I also recommend that perhaps its not needed in most situations with PSP as it is typically a slow airport; that some manner of flow control be in place to PSP when they do have to hold aka a stricter initiative from TMU would mitigate this.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of July 2013 and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.

Attributes
ACN	1063585
Time
Date	201301
Local Time Of Day	1801-2400
Place
Locale Reference	ZLA.ARTCC
State Reference	CA
Environment
Flight Conditions	IMC
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	No Aircraft
Person 1
Function	Enroute
Qualification	Air Traffic Control Developmental
Events
Anomaly	ATC Issue All Types Inflight Event / Encounter Weather / Turbulence

ZLA controller described an unsafe condition event at psp when weather information provided was incorrect resulting in some unnecessary holding; suggesting faster and more accurate weather dissemination.