Weather app
 

Long time Lurker, first post.

firstly just wanted to say I’m a offshore worker so probably had some of you guys or girls take me to and from work, always in awe of what you guys and gals do for a living so hats off.

Probably a mundane first post so apologies, I’m currently on the rough field off humberside.
was just wondering if there’s a decent weather app I can use to check if it’s ok for flying?

im due off tomorrow after a long 3 weeks, heard fog is due but most weather forecasts won’t show this.

thanks for your time in advance.

I use windy and meteox for my forecast weather, with a bit of xcweather thrown in. Windy is handy worldwide and can be quite detailed.
There is a met Office site for offshore, but that's only available on subscription.
But then I'm no longer interested in offshore weather.

Have a chat with your Radio Op - if you've got one - they should have access to the same data that the Operator sees, and probably more. Your installation may have an automated weather station or could be submitting obs manually.

With AeroWeather(on Apple's App Store and Google Play) you can put in Humberside airport and it will give you current weather at the airport and its forecast for the next 24 hours.
https://apps.apple.com/us/app/aerowe...te/id288286079

https://play.google.com/store/apps/d...en&gl=US&pli=1

Any of these suggested sites have CAA or FAA approval?

FAA requirements for Part 135 Air Taxi Operations......

https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-1...ection-135.213

My understanding is that AeroWeather simply copies and displays the official METAR and TAF reports published by airfields.

In that context it would comply with the FAA requirement. But it is of course the U.K. that the OP was primarily interested in.

Aero Weather advertises worldwide coverage and describes its procedures at its App Store entry but does not indicate if it has been approved by any Authority.

I have no doubt it I quite useful and might be far handier than government run outlets for the same information.

How does that meet the FAR Part 135.213 wording of the regulation?

Is "Aeroweather" an approved source even if it does an accurate repeat of the approved weather source? Not nit picking....just pointing out something that can crop up in an Accident Investigation.

The UK CAA surely has similar but different wording and requirements....but I am sure it spells out what it considers "approved sources".

A casual drive by of the UK CAA website surfaced this......

Quote:

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​​​​​​​Other Aviation Weather Sites

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A paragraph or two before that entry was a comment about Electronic Tablets, etc.....and a caution for one to ensure the information obtained was the most current and accurate.

As to your suggestion that "in context" Aeroweather is an approved source needs more than an assumption to confirm or deny its being in fact an approved source does it not.

It shall certainly meet the OP's need as the approval that requires is that of the casual user.

I don’t actually recall ever seeing a list of CAA approved sources, only advice that pilots are to ensure that the source is valid.

I have used that “App” for some years (still do although I no longer need it in an aviation context) and I know that many other commercial helicopter crews do because there is often no other method of obtaining up to date published met information so promptly, even at licensed airfields. I’ve never known it give incorrect information per se, although it may go “time out” if the mobile device can’t get a signal. It shows a warning if the data has expired. You haven’t mentioned if you have ever used any of the modern “Apps” in this way but each individual bulletin update is dated and timed.

I can’t think of a context where it would be so incorrect that it would be a causal factor in an accident.

Try MOMIDS. The official met office app.

^^^This^^^

Commercially available weather apps won’t give the offshore forecast and there is little point trying to learn how to decode TAFs & METARs. As we have seen on here in the past, a little knowledge can be a dangerous thing.

I didn't get the impression that the OP wanted to fly offshore himself; it appeared to me that he gets flown offshore as a passenger.

BTW, the AeroWeather app provides the option to automatically decode that information.

But I would certainly agree that the Met Office website should certainly also be consulted wherever possible. :ok:

The OP is currently offshore on the Rough field and wants to know if he is going to get stuck offshore due to fog/wx.

OK, I've now got it! :ok:

So it doesn't actually matter a jot if the App is CAA approved or not! :ugh:

As the saying goes, forget all after "Good Morning!" :p

Noting the OP doesn't care about the below:

. For what it's worth, there's quite a good UK incident report of a VERY expensive aircraft diverting because an app was used to get the (not quite latest) TAF and metar, but it didn't pick up the amended taf including the fog... Awks..

If you're using something "approved" you'll know about it because it'll either be a) provided by an official forecasting organisation (MOMIDS is a good example for UK mil) or b) it'll cost someone a lot more than 5 quid on the app store. Simply promising to faithfully reproduce the FAA/CAA/whoever published tafs and metars doesn't quite cut it - there's a fairly healthy data management process to go through to prove you'll always have the latest data, always faithfully display it and always tell someone when you're broken. Pretty much every site you see says something like 'not to be relied upon" somewhere in the small print. Doesn't mean they're not good, just they can't promise that they are!

Just before I retired the airport I was working at brought in Automet instead of human observers. One morning I arrived at work to find the early morning charter from TFS which I had turned out early for, had diverted to NEW due to the Automet reporting fog below minimums.. The "fog" was about 1 to 2 feet deep with not a cloud in the sky. It's not only apps that give partial or wrong information.

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