Online Weather

There are countless weather sources on the Internet, some authoritative, some not so. Let’s take a look at one reader favorite.

Tim Vasquez

Tuesday, May 07, 2024 at 08:00 AM ET

Verified

A color-coded matrix summarizes hazards along our San Diego to Dallas route.

Key Takeaways:

Aviation weather briefings have evolved from traditional phone services to advanced digital platforms and apps like EZWxBrief, offering pilots richer, more visual pre-flight analysis.
EZWxBrief provides comprehensive weather tools, including interactive dashboards that highlight potential hazards over time, detailed plots for icing and wind, and centralized access to various NOAA forecast models (e.g., HREF, HRRR, GFS).
These modern tools empower pilots to deeply understand complex weather patterns, interpret short-term and longer-range forecast models, and make informed decisions for flight planning, altitudes, and routes, though caution is advised in interpreting model-derived data.

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Years ago, a weather briefing meant dropping into a Flight Service Station or calling a toll-free number to get a rundown on the aviation forecast. While you still have the option to get a briefing by phone, and it certainly leaves that all-important paper trail, the information age means that you can enrich your briefing with all of the same tools that weather briefers have and actually see the problems you’ll be dealing with. And with mobile apps, there’s a clear convenience factor.

Some of the popular apps include ForeFlight, Garmin Pilot, AeroWeather, WeatherSpork, and Windy. There are also good charts on AviationWeather.gov, an underrated resource but a solid one; in fact I have their surface chart open every day in one of my browser tabs. We covered some of AviationWeather.gov in the December 2023 issue of IFR.