Weather Operations
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Topics discussed in this page:
· Weather Assessment
o Understanding virtual weather reports and forecasts
o Impact of weather on virtual flight operations
· Weather-Related Procedures
o Flying in adverse virtual weather conditions
Weather Assessment
Understanding virtual weather reports and forecasts
In order to understand virtual weather reports and forecasts you must also understand real world weather reports and forecasts and we will cover that in this section. Weather is one of the most important things to understand if you are going to take to the skies and there are many ways we can check the weather and one of the most important ways for pilots is going to be through what is called METAR or Meteorological Aerodrome Report, METAR's are put out at every airport for the local weather conditions. The format for METAR's might be intimidating at first as they may look like a bunch of numbers and letters but this picture will help you to understand it better
ATIS information is another way pilots may receive weather forecasts and it is another local forecasts that is provided by the local airport, ATIS is similar to METAR but it is broadcasted on radio and you will need to tune to your departing airports ATIS frequency. Another weather forecasting tool you may already be familiar with is weather radar apps or websites, these will give you more of a visual interpretation of the weather allowing you to see how heavy rain may be in areas. No matter the tool you may use it is important for a pilot to check and understand the weather that will impact his flight.