METAR on Approach

[Jetman67 517]

2 hours ago, lownslow said:

This is the best way for me too. You can simply click on the airport in the map, and it will bring up the weather window (on the bottom left for me). It pulls the weather data from MSFS, so it is the exact conditions in the simulator.

Interesting but this isn't much help when you are looking for the arrival weather enroute before top of descent unless I misunderstood,cheers

[Jetman67 517]

47 minutes ago, Mace said:

The PMS GNS530 mod also has the same capability (pulling metar and displaying it on screen). 

How do you do that in the Gns 530

[FlyingInACessna 656]

I’m late, but realistically you can use ForeFlight or go to http://aviationweather.gov and click on the METAR tab. 

Edited August 25, 2021 by FlyingInACessna

[Mace 1,906]

2 minutes ago, Jetman67 said:

How do you do that in the Gns 530

It's in the documentation.  You have to go to this web site and make a free account, it then gives you a token of text you insert in the config file for the 530.   It's all explained pretty well in the GNS530 documentation.

[Jetman67 517]

4 minutes ago, Mace said:

It's in the documentation.  You have to go to this web site and make a free account, it then gives you a token of text you insert in the config file for the 530.   It's all explained pretty well in the GNS530 documentation.

Thanks I was not aware

[fppilot 4,360]

6 hours ago, Mike777 said:

Hi Luka,

If you can find the real-world ATIS frequency, you can tune it in your aircraft radio. MSFS appears to be quite accurate in reproducing real-world frequencies.  The ATIS usually comes in much sooner than it is selectable by using MSFS ATC>Nearest Airports.  If the real-world charts show more than one frequency, you may have to experiment.

Yes but why?  The original post was how to get an accurate report of the conditions he was actually about to experience in the sim. 

ATIS in MSFS is terribly flawed and often is not reporting the actual conditions in MSFS at the time.  Here is the ATIS for my destination airport yesterday as I was arriving.  Look at it.  It's the bottom line. I had to capture this as soon as I saw it,

"Visibility 3 in heavy rain.  Sky condition: Clear"  Had me ROFL.

The actual skies were scattered little puffy cumulus.  There was no rain in the simulator.  The visibility was unlimited (should be reported as 10).  On actual real life radar there was no rain within 400 nm. 

Edited August 25, 2021 by fppilot

[Mike777 163]

20 hours ago, fppilot said:

Yes but why?  The original post was how to get an accurate report of the conditions he was actually about to experience in the sim. 

The ATIS is based on sim weather, unlike several of the suggestions earlier in this thread.

20 hours ago, fppilot said:

ATIS in MSFS is terribly flawed and often is not reporting the actual conditions in MSFS at the time.

That has not been my experience.  When I listen to the ATIS once I am in range to receive it, the  conditions are pretty much what ATIS reports, notably the landing runways and wind speed and direction.

[fppilot 4,360]

35 minutes ago, Mike777 said:

The ATIS is based on sim weather, unlike several of the suggestions earlier in this thread.

That has not been my experience.  When I listen to the ATIS once I am in range to receive it, the  conditions are pretty much what ATIS reports, notably the landing runways and wind speed and direction.

Appears you ignored my image.

[Mike777 163]

29 minutes ago, fppilot said:

Appears you ignored my image

No, Frank, I just said my experience has been different. One example doesn't prove anything.   I am well aware that MSFS is far from perfect and quirky ATIS is hardly a surprise. 

I wold be interested to know which method of extracting weather data from MSFS do you think is more accurate?  In this thread it is unclear to me which programs pull data from MSFS, which from RW, and which from addons like Active Sky (which I believe doesn't work with MSFS). 

Edited August 25, 2021 by Mike777

[jrw4 624]

We keep circling back to this question of the accuracy of the real weather as displayed in MSFS. The physical parameters of baro pressure, temperature, and wind speed/direction have apparently been linked to real world METAR parameters for most of 2021. Yes, it's no doubt true that at time, these go out of agreement, but that's usual a transitory issue. Where problems arise is in the sky conditions, which MSFS appears to synthesize based on global predictions it gets from MeteoBlue. The sky conditions do not seem to be METAR based, and that frustrates some users. Fair enough.

There are add-ons like Weather Force and UNREAL Weather that provide sky conditions corresponding to METARs where these are available, but they too have limitations, not the least of which is the somewhat uniform appearance of the sky within MSFS. And, of course, there are no METARs available for oceans and uninhabited areas of the planet. Again, fair enough.

Take your pick and enjoy the friendly (or not--your choice) skies.

Best wishes.

[fppilot 4,360]

25 minutes ago, Mike777 said:

No, Frank, I just said my experience has been different. One example doesn't prove anything.   I am well aware that MSFS is far from perfect and quirky ATIS is hardly a surprise. 

I wold be interested to know which method of extracting weather data from MSFS do you think is more accurate?  In this thread it is unclear to me which programs pull data from MSFS, which from RW, and which from addons like Active Sky (which I believe doesn't work with MSFS). 

I am at times having ok results with MSFS live weather, if, I accept up to 24 hour delays in what I am experiencing.  I also use REX WF and though it was measurably more accurate a time back, since SU5 (just an estimate), I am not having the same success other than with winds aloft and surface barometric pressure.  Now I do wish to be clear.  That is pertaining to live weather.  ATIS is a totally different issue, and I deemed it was ATIS that was the subject of this discussion.  As a former USAF weatherman, back in the day one of my responsibilities was recording broadcast weather reports.  Aviation, and since I was stationed at the airfield of a US Army training post (Ft Leonard Wood, Missouri) I also recorded broadcast weather for training (wet bulb or heat index, and wind chill). 

I have flown virtually all sims over now 40+ years and for the sims that featured ATIS/(AWOS) this one is a total embarrassment!  More often that not I see the anomalies such as in my image above.  And often I get fictional reports of cloud layers and worst of all I often get elements like reported dew points that are higher than than the surface temperatures, 

[Mike777 163]

22 minutes ago, fppilot said:

I am at times having ok results with MSFS live weather, if, I accept up to 24 hour delays in what I am experiencing.  I also use REX WF and though it was measurably more accurate a time back, since SU5 (just an estimate), I am not having the same success other than with winds aloft and surface barometric pressure.  Now I do wish to be clear.  That is pertaining to live weather.  ATIS is a totally different issue, and I deemed it was ATIS that was the subject of this discussion.  As a former USAF weatherman, back in the day one of my responsibilities was recording broadcast weather reports.  Aviation, and since I was stationed at the airfield of a US Army training post (Ft Leonard Wood, Missouri) I also recorded broadcast weather for training (wet bulb or heat index, and wind chill). 

I have flown virtually all sims over now 40+ years and for the sims that featured ATIS/(AWOS) this one is a total embarrassment!  More often that not I see the anomalies such as in my image above.  And often I get fictional reports of cloud layers and worst of all I often get elements like reported dew points that are higher than than the surface temperatures, 

Frank, have you posted your findings as perhaps a bug report in the MSFS forum?  Someone with your experience and expertise might just get their attention!

[Jetman67 517]

I'm a bit confused now which is not hard lol, so Is there any tool that can tell you the arrival weather as it stands in msfs 2020 or must we just go by the atis on approach which can be way out or just pull up a real life metar and hope for the best,cheers

[fppilot 4,360]

15 minutes ago, Jetman67 said:

I'm a bit confused now which is not hard lol, so Is there any tool that can tell you the arrival weather as it stands in msfs 2020 or must we just go by the atis on approach which can be way out or just pull up a real life metar and hope for the best,cheers

I am having more success just pulling in live real world ATIS or metars and relying on that, especially when drawing wx from REX WF.  In the USA for most airports, ATIS/AWOS is available by telephone recordings.  With the typical time gaps in the areas where I fly with MSFS, live weather is pretty much hit or miss but most often better than reported by MSFS ATIS.  Sometimes actual (not reported) MSFS conditions (conditions, not ATIS) are close or agree with live real world ATIS or metars, at other times it does not.  Unfortunately there is no good answer here at this time.

18 minutes ago, Mike777 said:

Frank, have you posted your findings as perhaps a bug report in the MSFS forum?  Someone with your experience and expertise might just get their attention!

Yes.  And my request has been to open MSFS weather up for actual 3rd party weather injection.  Active Sky, REX, FSGRW, et al.  The 100% dismissive response has been "not planned".  Not "not planned at this time" but "not planned". So sad.  In my business career we used a term for that.  Not invented here syndrome (NIHS).  Experience has taught that it is a syndrome that is extremely difficult if not impossible to overcome.  It is usually embedded in team culture.

Edited August 25, 2021 by fppilot

[RandallR 444]

I have mentioned ATIS as one of the tools I use only if a METAR report is not available.  For me, the actual metar report for my destination is usually the most accurate match.  I try to obtain one more reading before the IAF.

Though it has happened rarely, I have sometimes had to turn away and request a new approach, as the wind has changed so much it is basically now up my 6 and strong.  I'm glad I got the new information before I was in the approach.