Wind direction: 540 degrees measurement range

Some weather stations offer the possibility to query the wind direction measurement values in the range [0,540[ in addition to the regular [0,360[.

The extended range is supposed to reduce the effect that the value would change rapidly between minimum and maximum scale when around 0=360 degrees. Using 540 degrees as maximum, these sudden changes should occur much less frequently, as the value is able to "wrap-around" at 360.

Is this feature commonly used in scientific practice? I have a feeling that this is only useful when the data is illustrated in a graph directly, and only complicates any further calculations.