Chances are you’ve looked over weather charts, whether at a dispatch office or on the Internet, and wondered how that pile of spaghetti becomes a forecast. Granted, with all the flight planning tools available and 24/7 access to a flight weather briefer, this is not something pilots need to know. Indeed many pilots find themselves too busy to do a deep dive into the weather. But there are many benefits from learning how to take in the “big picture” and understand exactly what the weather is doing. That makes it much easier to put TAFs and other data into proper context, and it takes your situational awareness up a notch.
These days there are countless weather charts available on the Internet. Let’s start with the most reliable, safe source of data: the Aviation Weather Center website. We’ll use the new Beta Charts page at beta.aviationweather.gov that represents the kind of planning charts we will probably see throughout the remainder of the 2020s. If you have your own favorite flight planning website, you can still follow along and look up a similar chart that works for you, as most of these websites are designed around the same key products.
