Inflight Weather Briefings

Wednesday, August 23, 2023 at 10:09 AM ET

Verified

Some electronic flight bags, like ForeFlight, shown, can color-code the weather at nearby airports with official observations. This screenshot shows Monterey and other coastal stations are reporting IFR (red) while Salinas (blue) and Hollister (green) have at least MVFR.

Key Takeaways:

Modern cockpit weather systems like ADS-B and EFBs provide significantly more data than in the past, aiding pilots in decision-making and improving safety.
These systems are not infallible; pilots must be aware of potential limitations related to equipment reliability, data timeliness (latency), and connectivity issues.
Despite increased data availability, pilots retain the critical responsibility to interpret information using foundational aviation knowledge and to exercise sound judgment.
Actively looking out the window remains an essential safety practice for observing both weather and traffic, as electronic systems have blind spots and cannot replace visual confirmation.

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(Editor’s Note: This is the second contribution to a multi-part series on going beyond the standard preflight weather briefing to find the details underlying what our EFBs tell us. Look for subsequent installments in future issues.)

The forecast for Monterey, California (KMRY), advertised clear weather for the whole day. This didn’t make any sense, because the airport is right next to Monterey Bay and the ILS approach starts out over the Pacific Ocean. I was visiting pilot friends, and we all looked at the forecast together, agreeing that it was strange. But the forecast said clear and with no alternate required, I didn’t file one.