Weather forecasting
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Suave yet Shallow
Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 343
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From: half way between the gutter and the stars.
Weather forecasting
What does everyone else check (weather wise) prior to flights?
I use the 214/215 forms for flights the same day, as well as the mk1 eyeball and the BBC weather forecast.
For planning more than 12 hours in advance I tend to just go off what the BBC say and then await how it looks the morning of a flight.
What do others use for flights the same day, and flights 1 or 2 days away?
I use the 214/215 forms for flights the same day, as well as the mk1 eyeball and the BBC weather forecast.
For planning more than 12 hours in advance I tend to just go off what the BBC say and then await how it looks the morning of a flight.
What do others use for flights the same day, and flights 1 or 2 days away?
Joined: Sep 2004
Posts: 43
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From: UK
Met Office 3 day forcast to plan ahead
TAFs, METARs and 214/215 forms when planning.
Apart from obvious freezing levels, CBs, minima/wind issues my basic questions are:
Is the weather worsening or improving and at what rate?
Are there any fronts. If so what direction, what speed, what type?
Carbice?
TAFs, METARs and 214/215 forms when planning.
Apart from obvious freezing levels, CBs, minima/wind issues my basic questions are:
Is the weather worsening or improving and at what rate?
Are there any fronts. If so what direction, what speed, what type?
Carbice?
The Original Whirly
Joined: Feb 1999
Aviation Qualifications: CPL
Posts: 4,327
Likes: 2
From: Belper, Derbyshire, UK
This site http://ows.public.sembach.af.mil/wxcharts/wxcharts.htm
gives the synoptic charts for 5 days in advance, and tends to be pretty accurate. I'll sometimes use the met office 3-day forecast too, and the BBC.
On the day I use forms 214/215 and TAFs.
gives the synoptic charts for 5 days in advance, and tends to be pretty accurate. I'll sometimes use the met office 3-day forecast too, and the BBC.
On the day I use forms 214/215 and TAFs.
Joined: Jan 2004
Posts: 144
Likes: 0
From: UK
A friend mentioned www.avbrief.co.uk/ to me, I was looking through it and they provide a huge amount, including international TAFS and METARS for a set route for only about £30/yr.
Joined: Dec 2003
Posts: 20
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From: Northampton
Try these two web sites as well
http://www.xcweather.co.uk/
http://www.wellesbourneairfield.com/weatherflash.htm
The wellsbourne site is superb
http://www.xcweather.co.uk/
http://www.wellesbourneairfield.com/weatherflash.htm
The wellsbourne site is superb
Joined: Sep 2002
Posts: 778
Likes: 0
From: London, UK
http://fly.dsc.net will give you global TAFs and METARs for the nearest reporting stations to any place (useful if you want to know the weather at somewhere other than a reporting station but don't know where the closest one is). If you store a route it will give you the weather en-route with one click.
Joined: Jun 2003
Posts: 13,787
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From: EuroGA.org
I use Avbrief (TAFs, METARs, F215, synoptic charts) and for same-day flying it is usually all one needs.
This one
http://www.arl.noaa.gov/ready/cmet.html
is my favourite for all weather beyond the "official data" carried by Avbrief and others, and allows a longer range view.
The Sembach site looks great but the low level cloud images are, I have usually found, too inaccurate to be relied on for being VFR. They regularly forecast no cloud at all below 7500ft when in reality there is a solid overcast at say 4000ft. This may be OK for the UK but is no good for e.g. France where one has to pick specific levels to avoid the military airspace that covers most of France.
BEWARE because some of the countless "amateur weather" websites carry old data which, presumably, they lift off other sites. On TAFs, the preparation date/time is in the TAF but this isn't the case for synoptic charts and you have no idea how old the chart is. It could be last year's. I have even had some WAP website deliver TAFs that were 3 days old; stopped using that one immediately.
This "lifting" of weather data is why the NOAA site above now has a device which prevents scripted downloading of the data.
I would very much like a website which can take GFS data and do a plot of icing and cloud tops en-route for a specified route. That is what I find is really missing from available info. OTOH it isn't possible to forecast accurately.
One can get an idea of icing levels from Form 214/215 but like all the "official" data that's same day only. The NOAA site has a way of getting the temperature profile but doing this for a long route is very laborious.
This one
http://www.arl.noaa.gov/ready/cmet.html
is my favourite for all weather beyond the "official data" carried by Avbrief and others, and allows a longer range view.
The Sembach site looks great but the low level cloud images are, I have usually found, too inaccurate to be relied on for being VFR. They regularly forecast no cloud at all below 7500ft when in reality there is a solid overcast at say 4000ft. This may be OK for the UK but is no good for e.g. France where one has to pick specific levels to avoid the military airspace that covers most of France.
BEWARE because some of the countless "amateur weather" websites carry old data which, presumably, they lift off other sites. On TAFs, the preparation date/time is in the TAF but this isn't the case for synoptic charts and you have no idea how old the chart is. It could be last year's. I have even had some WAP website deliver TAFs that were 3 days old; stopped using that one immediately.
This "lifting" of weather data is why the NOAA site above now has a device which prevents scripted downloading of the data.
I would very much like a website which can take GFS data and do a plot of icing and cloud tops en-route for a specified route. That is what I find is really missing from available info. OTOH it isn't possible to forecast accurately.
One can get an idea of icing levels from Form 214/215 but like all the "official" data that's same day only. The NOAA site has a way of getting the temperature profile but doing this for a long route is very laborious.
Joined: Dec 2001
Aviation Qualifications: Military
Posts: 1,286
Likes: 20
From: I have no idea but the view's great.
Joined: Apr 2003
Posts: 110
Likes: 0
From: Hants
Whirlybird's link is good, but too slow for my lousy dial up at home, and doesn't make it through the firewall at work, so my list is:
Of course the Met Office, both the aviation pages and this one:
http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/weather/charts/index.html
And I look at this site using the "Mittl. Wolken" predictions (with cloud for you and I):
http://www.wetterzentrale.de/topkarten/fsavneur.html
I'll see if IO540's link is useful in the long term, thanks for that.
Cheers
Rich
Of course the Met Office, both the aviation pages and this one:
http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/weather/charts/index.html
And I look at this site using the "Mittl. Wolken" predictions (with cloud for you and I):
http://www.wetterzentrale.de/topkarten/fsavneur.html
I'll see if IO540's link is useful in the long term, thanks for that.
Cheers
Rich
Joined: Sep 2002
Posts: 98
Likes: 0
From: The South
My favourite site for charts a few days in advance is:
http://expert.weatheronline.co.uk/
In particular, the model overlay chart is excellent at working out whether any forecast for a particular day is likely to be of any use: if all the models have very different views of what's happening, you know you'll just have to wait and see.
The site has a huge range of charts derived from the GFS model, though there's not all that much to help you with cloud cover.
Mark
http://expert.weatheronline.co.uk/
In particular, the model overlay chart is excellent at working out whether any forecast for a particular day is likely to be of any use: if all the models have very different views of what's happening, you know you'll just have to wait and see.
The site has a huge range of charts derived from the GFS model, though there's not all that much to help you with cloud cover.
Mark
