How to Check Weather for Flight Planning

After taking off in your airplane on a weekend trip, you arrive at your destination and realize thunderstorms surround the area, prohibiting you from landing. This is the point you wish you had checked the weather so you would have known to fly somewhere else. Following these steps, you will learn to check the weather when planning a flight.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

1. Watch local TV news stations for the weather forecast in your area. Websites such as weather.com can also be beneficial for obtaining the general weather conditions along your route of flight.
2. Log on to NOAA's Aviation Weather Center website for current and forecast weather relating to aviation.
3. Check for current AIRMETs and SIGMETSs. On the NOAA site, you can get both a textual and graphical description of icing, turbulence, IFR, convective storms and volcanic ash.
4. Look at the Low Level 4 Panel Prog charts to see predicted locations of fronts, pressure areas and precipitations. The top panels will show areas of predicted turbulence and IFR weather. Be sure to check the valid times in the bottom left corner of each chart and convert it from Zulu time to local time.
5. Collect the winds aloft at specific altitudes using the textual Winds/Temps data at airports along your route of flight. Use this information to accurately compute your ground speeds, fuel requirements and time en route.
6. Get forecast and current weather information for your takeoff and destination airport using aviation routine weather reports (METARs) and terminal area forecasts (TAFs). Use the information to determine the winds, clouds and weather you should expect when you arrive.
7. Call your local flight service station at (800) WX-BRIEF and ask for a standard briefing from your origin to your decided destination. They will check the same information, but they may find something you missed.

Tips & Warnings

• Read the Section 7-1 "Meteorology" in the Aeronautical Information Manual for more information on aviation weather products.
• Avoid AIRMETs if at all possible and never fly into a SIGMET with a light airplane.
• Avoid flying with old weather information. Recheck your weather shortly before takeoff with the Internet or a Flight Service Station, as weather changes quickly.
• Do not fly on an IFR flight plan without a legal weather source such as a Flight Service weather briefing. Most online weather sources are good planning resources and may be accurate, but they are not considered official sources.