Aviajet Digital > Meteo
Top global aviation weather apps
Top aviation weather apps for professional and flight simulator pilots include integrated EFBs like ForeFlight (US gold standard) & Garmin Pilot, European favorite SkyDemon, and visualization tools like Windy, Ventusky, & RadarScope, offering detailed METARs, radar and planning, with Aviation Weather Center (AWC) as a key official source.
An overview of well known US aviation weather apps:
- Aviation Weather Center (AWC): the official US source (NOAA) for aviation forecasts, METARs, TAFs, SIGMETs, etc., often integrated into other apps
- AvareX: a free version that can be used on on a iOS device
- RadarScope: excellent for detailed, high-resolution NEXRAD radar imagery, crucial for real-time severe weather tracking
- Windy / Ventusky: highly popular for global, high-resolution wind, precipitation, and other meteorological data visualization, used by many flight simulator enthusiasts and pros
- 1800 WX brief: provided by FlightService.
Top European aviation weather apps
A short overview of well known European aviation weather apps:
- Avinor IPPC: the Internet Pilot Planning Centre (IPPC) is an Internet based Norwegian aeronautical briefing system hosted by Avinor Air Navigation Services AS.
- MetOfficeUK: surface pressure charts showing pressure and weather fronts are provided up to five days ahead for Europe and the North East Atlantic.
- Windy Europe: a unique weather forecast visualisation.
Best for flight simmers and General Aviation
Use whatever aviation weather apps you are comfortable with and just to mention a few:
- LiveATC: while not weather, it's vital for flight simmers to hear real ATC communications, often discussing weather
- METARs Aviation Weather: simple, direct access to raw METAR data
- MyRadar: great for general, easy-to-read radar and weather
- Windy & Ventusky: essential for visualizing large-scale weather patterns in flight simulators like X-Plane 11.
Key weather data sources often integrated
A good study of the meteorological conditions will help you understand the planning and performance of you're flight better:
- ECMWF/GFS Models: Powerful global forecast models (Windy uses ECMWF)
- METARs & TAFs: raw airport observations/forecasts (AWC, ForeFlight)
- SIGMETs/AIRMETs: hazardous weather warnings (AWC, integrated into EFB apps).