Foreflight is getting depressing

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drotto

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drotto
Not that the program does not work, but he damn sigmet overview. I go to find out the weather and forecasts and everyday for about 2 weeks 70% of the country is covered with some sort of potential significant hazard, usually multiple. Being low time, and not as much experience reading the weather, it is making it difficult to determine when is safe to take a XC flight. Or maybe I am being to cautious? :dunno:
 
drotto said:
Not that the program does not work, but he damn sigmet overview. I go to find out the weather and forecasts and everyday for about 2 weeks 70% of the country is covered with some sort of potential significant hazard, usually multiple. Being low time, and not as much experience reading the weather, it is making it difficult to determine when is safe to take a XC flight. Or maybe I am being to cautious? :dunno:
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No, you just need to learn how to read the weather. If you call for a weather briefing the old fashioned way you will face the same issue.
 
It's not FF fault, need to tell the govt to stop being so CYA with all the warnings.
 
Relatively local flights?

Look out the window, sun's out? Few or no clouds? Check winds aloft, less than 30kts? Check local weather, no rain in the forecast? No fronts approaching on local radar?

Go fly.

Call lockmart and check for TFRs on the drive to the airport.

;)
 
yeah man, it's like using 1800wxbrief.com Regardless of your route you'll almost always have 4 or 5 alerts.

What I've noticed is you need to look at the actual start and ending times. Most of the Airmets and various warnings up and down the east coast get put in without an end time, so foreflight and everyone else reports them.

My trip up from Jekyll Island back to MD last sunday was littered with LIFR forecasts, Airmets and Sigmet warnings. All from the storms that passed through the night before I left. Worst it got was some low ceilings left over at 6 am in SC, but they passed pretty quick. Other than that it was smooth sailing up high
 
I hear ya. Granted I'm not quite as gunshy as I once was about a huge convective sigmet across half the country, but if I actually want to cross the country it's different. I look at Foreflight/Skyvector about daily, thinking about potential routes and fuel stops to Oshkosh, what if I have a tailwind, what if I have a headwind, etc. But for the last couple weeks it's been what if I have to fly a couple hundred extra miles to go around THAT. :mad2:
 
If I halt a flight every time there's a sigmet or some warning, I'll never fly down here in hot, humid Florida. The warnings are just that: warnings. It's good to compare what you see in ForeFlight with what you see with your own two eyes.

Watch your local weather patterns. Here in Tallahassee during the summer, you're almost guaranteed to get cumulus build ups between noon and 5. You'll likely get some isolated thunderstorms around that time, too. So, I fly early (6am) or late (6pm). I look at the radar, too, to make sure there aren't any storms headed my way.

If you're flying XC, keep a good look out for clouds and towering cumulus. Ask ATC what type of weather they see. And, keep your plan B and C (and D) ready to go in case something is coming.
 
Yeah it does get depressing this time of year. But buildups require energy and that comes from surface heating. Buildups don't usually pop the top until the afternoon so fly in the morning and plan your day trips as overnighters and it's usually OK. Even without storms, flying in the morning usually provides smoother and cooler air so it's just a relatively good time to fly in general.
 
VFR? Check the radar, and if there are no boomers, go. You can see the things out the window. If you want to check what's ahead dial up the ASOS or call Flightwatch. If you stay on the ground every time there's a cigmet you'll never fly.
 
steingar said:
VFR? Check the radar, and if there are no boomers, go. You can see the things out the window. If you want to check what's ahead dial up the ASOS or call Flightwatch. If you stay on the ground every time there's a cigmet you'll never fly.
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Yeah that's something that took me a while to get comfortable with. The forecast is not the weather, the sigmet is not the weather, the weather is the weather. Look out the window and fly the weather you get.

However, if your plan is to go for a quick XC someplace you'd be right to wonder if there will be gnarly buildups awaiting you on the return. They happen fast so I understand the OP's caution.
 
MBDiagMan said:
Sounds like a case of shooting the messenger.
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It's a figure of speech as he says in the OP. It's like saying the newspaper is getting depressing when you really mean that the news is depressing.
 
petrolero said:
However, if your plan is to go for a quick XC someplace you'd be right to wonder if there will be gnarly buildups awaiting you on the return. They happen fast so I understand the OP's caution.
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They build up fast but they also dissipate quickly. Besides, if its that bad rent a car or have someone pick you up from a local XC.

For longer summer trips, IFR or VFR some flexibility is essential. Those things can get in the way, and sometimes its best just to wait them out.
 
For the most part I'm only concerned with SIGMETS and the radar.

Of course know he freezing level if you're going IMC and can't handle ice.
 
Reading the Weather - is a skill like any other. Here is an exercise you can do. Every morning get up and plan a cross country - piece of cake with FF or any other similar app. Check the weather, make a go/no go decision, then wait and see what happens. Keep a log of your go/no go decisions. Were you right or wrong? Why?

Pay attention and analyze the results? Check the Wx frequently and see how it changes. Does it behave as forecast? When it doesn't is there a reason for that?

One thing to learn is to read is the FA. It will generally have a good discussion of why they think the Wx will be what they are predicting. Are they right or wrong? Read these enough and you will start to get an idea of the weather patterns here in the NE (there really are only a few).

Eventually you will start to form your own opinions, maybe by looking at the TV weather, and then you can compare them to the Aviation Wx forecast and the actual conditions.

BUT nothing can compare to some actual experience. Want to fly around in 3000' and 5 with haze. This perfectly legal VFR but you will be shocked by it the first time you do it. Go do it near your airport, don't wander too far. You'll soon get to know what you are comfortable with.

Above all, fly safely. Leave yourself an out, get more training, stay on the ground when you are not comfortable.
 
I flew through two of those mod turb Sigmets recently.... Guess what?




I was getting bounced around. Lots of Big iron in a 10k block also asking for smooth air somewhere.

Seems legit to me.
 
Unit74 said:
I flew through two of those mod turb Sigmets recently.... Guess what?




I was getting bounced around. Lots of Big iron in a 10k block also asking for smooth air somewhere.

Seems legit to me.
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My biggest daily issue with foreflight is I ether have SIGMETS and AIRMETS, or nothing.

I wish I could select them independently, just turn off all the CYA AIRMETS so all I see are SIGMETS.
 
James331 said:
My biggest daily issue with foreflight is I ether have SIGMETS and AIRMETS, or nothing.



I wish I could select them independently, just turn off all the CYA AIRMETS so all I see are SIGMETS.
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Grab a copy of the MyRADAR App. Way better at that job than FF is. IMHO.
 
steingar said:
VFR? Check the radar, and if there are no boomers, go. You can see the things out the window. If you want to check what's ahead dial up the ASOS or call Flightwatch. If you stay on the ground every time there's a cigmet you'll never fly.
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:yes:
 
While still on the ground, I telephone the AWOS of airport at my next destination, and the airports along the way.
 
Try the weathermeister.com site It gives you a briefing That works great for a preflight wx briefing. The night before get the latest forecasts after 8 pm. That is when the next days forecast come out. Good luck. Start with small flights. Hope this helps.
 
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tinerj said:
While still on the ground, I telephone the AWOS of airport at my next destination, and the airports along the way.
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I'm curious. What do you feel the current conditions at your destination gives you that is better than getting it 0-10 minutes before you get there?

Yes, of course in the context of forecast information, they can give you a pretty ok idea of the forecast's accuracy, but standing alone, not "the ceiling is 2000' right now" tells me much about what it will be like when I get there.
 
Trending the one minute weather helps quite a bit. Fltplan will give you a few readings back.
 
midlifeflyer said:
I'm curious. What do you feel the current conditions at your destination gives you that is better than getting it 0-10 minutes before you get there?

Yes, of course in the context of forecast information, they can give you a pretty ok idea of the forecast's accuracy, but standing alone, not "the ceiling is 2000' right now" tells me much about what it will be like when I get there.
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As an example, I left Ft Wayne IN with a forecast of 'clear and a million' for my entire trip to St Louis in an Arrow II. By the time I made Indianapolis I was diving for the last hole in a solid deck that had only 5 minutes prior produced the first puffy small cloud. By the time I was Calling Parks Downtown for landing clearance I was under a dark grey deck navigating by reading highway signs.
 
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