Testing Live Weather and Winter Wonders Along the Way

In Microsoft Flight Simulator you can work your way through all kinds of icy scenarios.

Friday, February 09, 2024 at 07:39 PM ET

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This could be an ad for Air Canada. What a scenery feast. Partially frozen waters with glaciers and snow-covered cliffs. Unbelievably beautiful. [Courtesy: Peter James]

Key Takeaways:

The author enjoys winter flight simulation, drawing inspiration from real-world locations and live weather to test the realism of simulators.
Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 (MSFS2020) is highly praised for its "startlingly accurate" live weather modeling, consistently matching real-world conditions observed with ForeFlight.
The article details several simulated flights demonstrating MSFS2020's immersive depiction of challenging winter weather, including lake-effect snow, high winds with terrain-induced shear, and realistic icing effects across diverse locations like Cleveland, the Dakotas, Revelstoke, and Juneau.
MSFS2020 provides a highly realistic and adventurous experience for virtual pilots, enabling them to navigate complex weather and terrain, even utilizing modern aircraft avionics like enhanced vision systems.

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With winter gripping most of the country, it’s one of my most favorite times to sim fly. Actually, that’s a lie. All seasons are fun. However, winter does hold that special, adventurous spirit the other seasons sometimes seem to lack.

I am often inspired by the real locations and weather I experience when I am on a real work trip. With ForeFlight by my side, it’s fun to test the realism of the sims and how they’re interpreting live weather worldwide. Both X-Plane 12 (XP12) and Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 (MSFS2020) do a pretty good job of keeping up with it and both have shown continual improvements. It seems each month the message forums are showcasing live weather questions, observations, frustrations, and praise.