Where do you get your weather?

Around here we get our weather from the sky.....

We check our weather on the computer or with flight service.....;):lol::lol:
 
midwestpa24 said:
I like a lot of the data on GFA, but I find using the SkewT to give a better idea of cloud bases and tops, plus layers. The format on the GFA just doesn't do layered clouds justice.
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I agree....but it is light-years ahead of what we had before. Too few pilots speak Skew-T, unfortunately. I have text about Skew-T in my books, but that does not reach the vast majority of pilots (sob). Student balloon pilots have Skew-T on their knowledge exams, but apparently the FAA doesn't believe in spreading the word too widely.

Bob
 
bobmrg said:
I agree....but it is light-years ahead of what we had before. Too few pilots speak Skew-T, unfortunately. I have text about Skew-T in my books, but that does not reach the vast majority of pilots (sob). Student balloon pilots have Skew-T on their knowledge exams, but apparently the FAA doesn't believe in spreading the word too widely.

Bob
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Once you know the Skew-T, you will be surprised how well it works. I recently took a hard IFR XC and the Skew-T was basically spot on for the tops and bottoms of the layers, and the temperature changes enroute. Removed a lot of the surprises I would have encountered on that trip otherwise.
 
TRocket said:
DUATS
Wunderground
And yes, telephone briefings! I know, so outdated and obsolete! I'm sure will be pointed out by someone...

Thanks for sharing Windy.com though. I had not heard of that one, just pulled it up and it seems pretty cool. I will mess around with it some more.
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I also like to talk to a briefer, but I've noticed recently they seem to be trying to discourage it.
 
Cajun_Flyer said:
Who is "they"?
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Whoever created the recorded greeting/survey that basically asks, "Why the heck aren't you doing this on the Internet?" Whoever is responsible for staffing levels that result in waiting on hold for a briefer. And whoever the briefer was last week who acted like I was distracting her from something really important (that one might have been a fluke).
 
Two excellent free iOS apps that haven't been mentioned:

Storm
I turn on these overlays for the radar map:
  • Storm Tracks
  • Lightning
  • Windstream (surface)
  • Fronts
  • watches & warnings for Tornado/Severe Thunderstorms
SkewTLogPro
The new "View Route" feature is noteworthy.​
 
Mostly from the Pacific ocean. Sometimes we get it from the gulf of California but that's the exception.

Edit: I see @Clark1961 got to that joke first. Kudos!
 
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Lindberg said:
I also like to talk to a briefer, but I've noticed recently they seem to be trying to discourage it.
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Cajun_Flyer said:
Who is "they"?
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I think once you talk to a briefer now, you will see that the actual briefers do NOT discourage it, as this is their livelihood. I will say, recently when I called what was once Lockheed Flight services, and now Leidos (I got some BS survey about getting my briefings online). I am not a full time professional pilot, I not only enjoy talking to an actual briefer, who may point out something I missed (and may also ramble on about irrelevant info, the chance you take) but it is just preferable in my opinion, plus, that guy or gal on the other end of the line, who in most cases does one hell of a job, has a livelihood that depends on it. Plus some good ole fashioned human interaction!!! Oh no!!! So call me old school or what have you, but as long as it is available, Im calling 1-800-WX-BRIEF anytime I am going somewhere or filing IFR.
 
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Cajun_Flyer said:
I start with either Foreflight or aviationweather.gov. Then I move onto this chart from weather.gov, mostly because their wind gust predictions seem to be spot on...

chart2.jpg


Right before flight I still call a briefer, because you never know what random thing you maybe missed... like the fact that there may be "rocket launches 15 nm east of course that could look like missiles" (my favorite recent briefing!)
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That's what I use, plus our local National Weather Service Office posts a soaring forecast for us with SkewT and Thermal Index.
 
AccuWeather usually kicks our local NWS office's butt on local forecasts.
 
Lindberg said:
Whoever created the recorded greeting/survey that basically asks, "Why the heck aren't you doing this on the Internet?" Whoever is responsible for staffing levels that result in waiting on hold for a briefer. And whoever the briefer was last week who acted like I was distracting her from something really important (that one might have been a fluke).
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I call 1800wxbrief fairly often to research a weather or flight planning question. The first question I hear is "What state are you departing from?" There might be a delay in connecting with a briefer familiar with the northwest, but nothing to get upset about. I've never heard anything like the phrase you quote. Every briefer I have talked to has gone out of his/her way to make sure that my question was answered fully.

Bob
"
 
Lindberg said:
Whoever created the recorded greeting/survey that basically asks, "Why the heck aren't you doing this on the Internet?"
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Yeah, and it is asked in a very suggestive way like "oh, you must be a student and your instructor is making you do this"
 
I just realized the correct answer to the original question is:

Uneven heating of the Earth's surface.

If the question was :

Who do you trust to lie the most convincingly to you about weather?

Then we've got the question right! :)
 
bobmrg said:
I agree....but it is light-years ahead of what we had before. Too few pilots speak Skew-T, unfortunately. I have text about Skew-T in my books, but that does not reach the vast majority of pilots (sob). Student balloon pilots have Skew-T on their knowledge exams, but apparently the FAA doesn't believe in spreading the word too widely.

Bob
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What official wx souce are you using that offers Skew-T? I don't find it on either flight service or DUATS sites. Granted there are links to unofficial sites.
 
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Foreflight and fltplan

For VFR stuff I also use some of the web/weather cams on wunderground.
 
Clip4 said:
What official wx souce are you using that offers Skew-T? I don't find it on either flight service or DUATS sites. Granted there are links to unofficial sites.
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So you're saying he's correct? ;-)
 
Windy was spot on for yesterday's cloud cover and bases. When it predicted they'd clear out, they did... (9 hours too late for me to make my trip, unfortunately). I think I have a new favorite website. The cloud predictions for today are a tiny bit off of what they were. But I appreciate that they don't move the goal posts to fit current conditions like other websites do. Interestingly enough, the high ceilings are exact what was predicted. It's just a lower layer below the high clouds that the forecast didn't model.
 
Slight Necro-Post, but I just started to dig into Windy.com

Holy crap, this site is awesome.
 
labbadabba said:
Suppose we could build a wall...
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No. We need one at 49 North to keep the Canadians comfortable in their natural habitat. Those "Alberta Clippers that chill Michigan could go away for ever and would not be missed.

That said, I have friends in Alberta who wouldn't like that.
 
For the last few years, ForeFlight on the large iPhone has been great. Rather than getting a bigger iPad, decided to try the iPhone velcroed on a custom ultralight knee strap/neck lanyard combo and it has worked so well I can't see changing. Wx, GPS and Video/stills at the fingertips. Almost forgot it's a phone too.
 
Cajun_Flyer said:
I start with either Foreflight or aviationweather.gov. Then I move onto this chart from weather.gov, mostly because their wind gust predictions seem to be spot on...


Right before flight I still call a briefer, because you never know what random thing you maybe missed... like the fact that there may be "rocket launches 15 nm east of course that could look like missiles" (my favorite recent briefing!)
Click to expand...

There is a new version at forecast-v3.weather.gov. The chart updates as you click options and there's a tab to flip between the charts and tabular data.
 
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