With release only a week away, it's time to get a thread going where we can post current weather events that might be interesting to check out in MSFS.

From what we've seen in the Alpha & Beta, tropical storms expecially are big multiplayer events with lots of people gathering at nearby airports to experience the dramatic visuals and effects in their airplanes. The 2020 Atlantic Hurricane Season is forecasted to become a very strong season, with potentially lots of named storms due to very warm water temperatures in the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico.

As we discuss events here, please be mindful that whatever weather we will see in the sim in the coming weeks will also have real-world impacts on the people living in the respective regions, so let's try to keep our contributions and comments here appropriate and respectful.
 

CURRENT WEATHER TO WATCH

And with that, let's start with the current Atlantic Tropical Disturbance One, which is forecasted to become a tropical cyclone over the next five days with a 70% chance. If this system forms into a tropical storm or Hurricane, it will likely become Hurricane "Josephine".

Edited August 11, 20205 yr by Der Zeitgeist

4 hours ago, Der Zeitgeist said:

From what we've seen in the Alpha & Beta, tropical storms expecially are big multiplayer events with lots of people gathering at nearby airports to experience the dramatic visuals and effects in their airplanes.

Fascinating! It sounds like some great Aeronautical Decision Making and use of developer ressources.

As a pilot in real life, I have little interest in flying into cyclones: watching a Nat Geo documentary on the special C130 is enough to satisfy my curiosity. But I am very glad some beta testers could be entertained with it.

2 minutes ago, GearUp180 said:

But I am very glad some beta testers could be entertained with it.

Oh trust me, a lot of people will be interested in it.  Including some real world pilots who would never fly there in real life but want to see what it's like, or how the sim depicts it, or if it matches what they think is realistic.

I hadn't thought about the advantages of doing it in multi player.  That sounds pretty cool.

Hook

17 minutes ago, LHookins said:

Oh trust me, a lot of people will be interested in it.  Including some real world pilots who would never fly there in real life but want to see what it's like, or how the sim depicts it, or if it matches what they think is realistic.

I hadn't thought about the advantages of doing it in multi player.  That sounds pretty cool.

Hook

It could even be a crowd of the size of the (defunct) 2012 Microsoft Flight enthusiasts... 😉

'I'll be first in line to join a group of storm chasers 😄 *starry eyed*

32 minutes ago, GearUp180 said:

Fascinating! It sounds like some great Aeronautical Decision Making and use of developer ressources.

As a pilot in real life, I have little interest in flying into cyclones: watching a Nat Geo documentary on the special C130 is enough to satisfy my curiosity. But I am very glad some beta testers could be entertained with it.

You'll simply have to understand you're essentially dealing with a videogame here.

1 minute ago, Der Zeitgeist said:

You'll simply have to understand you're essentially dealing with a videogame here.

Videogame or aeronautical laboratory?

8 minutes ago, GearUp180 said:

It could even be a crowd of the size of the (defunct) 2012 Microsoft Flight enthusiasts... 😉

We were able to get a crowd large enough to see how many planes we could land on top of a specific hangar at once.  It was somewhere between 11 and 13, I don't remember, and lots of other people flying around waiting for their chance to increase the number.

Some of the best fun I've had in fight simming.

Hook

6 minutes ago, LHookins said:

We were able to get a crowd large enough to see how many planes we could land on top of a specific hangar at once.  It was somewhere between 11 and 13, I don't remember, and lots of other people flying around waiting for their chance to increase the number.

Some of the best fun I've had in fight simming.

Hook

Oh no, someone had fun! Alert the Flight Sim Police at once! We have to determine if proper aeronautical procedures were being followed! 😋

Edited August 11, 20205 yr by Der Zeitgeist

3 minutes ago, Der Zeitgeist said:

You'll simply have to understand you're essentially dealing with a videogame here.

Hey, it's not a video game!  It's a bona fide simulator!  It allows us to simulate being storm chasers.  How much more real can that get? 🙂 

I mean, if it were a video game you'd be getting a score for how close you flew to the eye, the highest wind you endured, things like that.  You think they're gonna give us a score for flying into the eye of the storm?  Not a chance.  Your only score is pass/fail, and you pass if you can do it.

"Video game!"  Jeez.  Some people... 

😄 

Hook

1 minute ago, Der Zeitgeist said:

Oh no, someone had fun!

It wasn't in P3D so I'm safe for the moment. 🙂 

Hook

5 minutes ago, Der Zeitgeist said:

You'll simply have to understand you're essentially dealing with a videogame here.

That's an interesting point here. So when it comes to the size of the trees, of the waves on the shore or the raindrops on the windshield, it's a simulator and we demand the most accurate depiction. But when it's about flying and decision making, it's a video game.

4 minutes ago, Der Zeitgeist said:

Oh no, someone had fun! Alert the Flight Sim Police at once! We have to determine if proper aeronautical procedures were being followed! 😋

I have nothing against people having fun using the sim like GTA. I just wish some overdue issues related to flying a plane were addressed by the developer before diverting ressources for the sand box.

MFS multiplayer storm chasers be like 

5 hours ago, Der Zeitgeist said:

As we discuss events here, please be mindful that whatever weather we will see in the sim in the coming weeks will also have real-world impacts on the people living in the respective regions, so let's try to keep our contributions and comments here appropriate and respectful.
 

 

 

 

I do greatly appreciate you saying this. I am actually in the Caribbean right now. After the 2017 hurricane season, which saw record breaking levels of destruction in several islands, hurricane season is not taken lightly down here. As a matter of fact, it NEVER has.

I survived hurricane Maria, and I can assure you, it is an EXTREMELY scary experience. I honestly thought that was my last night on earth. Thankfully, that was not the case and everyone in my household survived. My sim PC did not survive....RIP friend. My PS4 did. 🙂

So, thank you for acknowledging the residents of the Caribbean who could potentially be affected by these weather events. I hope others can be as respectful as you are.

Happy storm chasing.

 

Edited August 11, 20205 yr by CaribbeanCLANK

Not entirely relevant, but still: