How would a temperature of -5 be encoded in the reporting system?

In the Limited Aviation Weather Reporting System (LAWRS), temperatures are encoded using a specific format that includes a leading zero for single-digit positive temperatures and a prefix to indicate negative values. A temperature of -5 degrees Celsius would be represented by adding a leading zero, so it becomes -05. This coding convention ensures that the format remains consistent and easily interpretable by automated systems that process the weather data.

The encoding format is designed so that two-digit representations of temperatures allow for values to be directly compared and processed efficiently. In this case, the negative sign is retained in the encoding, distinguishing it from positive temperatures. Therefore, the correct representation of -5 degrees in the system is -05, which follows the specified formatting rules for negative temperatures.