Welcome to the

ForeFlight News Hub

Home » aviation weather

Tag: aviation weather

  • Historical Winds and Longer Range Forecast Winds Now in ForeFlight

    ForeFlight customers now have access to more winds aloft data for more accurate long term flight planning. Seven Day Winds Forecast The winds aloft forecast data in ForeFlight now extends up to seven days in the future (previously 30 hours), giving you more accurate route performance calculations for flight plans within that timeframe, anywhere in…

  • Surface Wind Analysis Now Available with SiriusXM

    In ForeFlight Mobile 9.0 we’ve added a high resolution surface wind analysis to the list of map layers you can display through the SiriusXM satellite weather broadcast. This new product includes both windspeed and direction presented as wind barbs similar to the winds aloft layer. Tapping on any wind barb will show the specific details. Two surface wind layers? Yes, there…

  • True Colors of IR Satellite

    Now in ForeFlight Mobile 8.3, you have a choice between one of two satellite layers on the ForeFlight Map view. The legacy satellite layer was renamed to Enhanced Satellite and the new layer is appropriately named Color IR Satellite. For many, the new satellite layer will look quite familiar. That’s because it was created to generally match the infrared (IR) satellite images located within the…

  • ‘Tis the season for airframe ice

    Now that cold air has infiltrated a good portion of North America, it’s time to review one important aspect of airframe icing, namely, precipitation type. The three basic wintry precipitation types include snow, ice pellets (colloquially known as sleet) and freezing rain (also freezing drizzle). Surface observations (METARs) and forecasts such as TAFs typically report these…

  • Don’t Let Satellite Weather Get You Down

    The radar depictions you see from the SiriusXM broadcast are highly filtered to provide only real precipitation areas. Ground clutter, anomalous propagation, birds, insects and such are carefully removed to provide the cleanest and most representative image. But like any process, there will be times where non-precipitation returns do not get filtered out. More importantly,…

  • Getting the most from ForeFlight radar layers

    Now that ForeFlight Mobile 7.7 introduced a second radar layer to the app, what are the practical advantages of each? As I mentioned in my earlier blog post, the composite reflectivity and lowest tilt radar layers both provide a high glance value to the pilot to highlight the location and movement of the truly nasty adverse weather. But I think you’ll…

  • Logbook Flight Sharing, Stratus ESG Support, New Radar Layer in ForeFlight 7.7

    ForeFlight 7.7 introduces the ability to share Logbook draft entries with other pilots, as well as a new radar layer, a new rate of descent instrument, Stratus ESG support, and lots of work under the hood to improve general map performance. Flight Logging Just Got Easier with Flight Sharing The new Flight Sharing feature in…

  • Getting The Lowdown On ForeFlight Radar

    In the pilot world there is a ubiquitous debate that continues to thrive over what ground-based radar product is better to use – NEXRAD composite reflectivity or NEXRAD base reflectivity from the lowest elevation angle. Without question, both of these radar mosaics provide a high glance value to the pilot to highlight the location and movement of…

  • Pilot Reports Get A Facelift

    Pilot weather reports are the eyes of the skies. They are not only consumed by pilots, but they are critical data for meteorologists as discussed in this earlier blog post.  For example, SIGMETs for turbulence and icing often live and die by pilot reports. It’s rare to see a SIGMET issued for severe or extreme turbulence…

  • Got Echo Tops?

    While not rare, it is a pleasant surprise to see a fairly quiet radar mosaic stretching from coast to coast. Unless you are specifically looking for nasty weather, a tranquil radar usually means decent flying weather, outside of cold clouds, in most locations that are not reporting low ceilings and reduced visibility due to a radiation fog…