I used to NOT like the weather accuracy in MSFS 2024, so I purchased Active Sky for 2024.  However, recently, I've noticed that the default weather in 2024 is MORE accurate than Active Sky.

What are your thoughts on this?  Has a recent update in 2024 tweaked the default weather to be better when the sim was first released?  I found snow at my home airport (KABE) with Active Sky today, and when I used the default weather, the snow was gone (which was accurate) and the weather looked exactly as it did outside my window.

I stopped using active sky ages ago, ever since I realised how inaccurate it is depicting approaching storms. 

Flying in Asia a lot, and often you have pretty severe weather especially around monsoon season. With default weather you can actually see the system in front of you far on the horizon and on the scope and therefore easily avoid it like you would in real life. 

With AS the weather around you would gradually get worse and worse evenly until you'd be in the middle of the soup all of a sudden. Like a goldfish with a progressively dirtier aquarium. Sure you had slightly nicer clouds with AS, but wasn't worth it for me in the end for that. That was in 2020. 

Didn't even install it for 2024, didn't feel like there was a point.

I generally agree. I have found the weather in 2024 to be very good. I also have not installed Active Sky with 2024.

I had AS for years, since FS9 over all MSFS and P3D versions. I barely touched 2020, but now I am full into 2024. I can't judge, because I don't have AS for MSFS2024, but all I can say is, I am perfectly satisfied with weather in MSFS2024, because it is way, way better than anything I have seen in any version of FS of previous simulators, even with Active Sky. And mainly because I have learned in all these years, around 25 of them, to stop looking for perfection.

Edited March 3, 20251 yr by Simon_C

4 hours ago, spilok said:

I used to NOT like the weather accuracy in MSFS 2024, so I purchased Active Sky for 2024.  However, recently, I've noticed that the default weather in 2024 is MORE accurate than Active Sky.

Outside the METAR bubbles, the default weather in MSFS is using MeteoBlue. Here, JRBarett says that the MeteoBlue data is more complete throughout a given day than the NOAA data (that XP uses):

Quote

The MeteoBlue NEMS data is probably more complete throughout a given day than the NOAA GFS because it contains forecast data for every 60 minutes while the GFS is every 3 hours. The GFS does have a higher grid resolution in their worldwide model however. 

So it seems that MSFS default weather, outside the METAR bubbles, is using the better data.  However, you mentioned that the weather was more accurate at your home airport, KABE.  Assuming MSFS is using METAR data for KABE when you spawned in, that would be within the METAR bubble, so MSFS was likely using METAR data.

I wonder what data Active Sky is using, and whether Active Sky is using METAR data a the airports, and then using NOAA data outside the airports.

Sometimes I use Hybrid mode with FS 2024.

On other occasions I opt for pure ASFS.

Reason is, the effects injected by ASFS are fine tuned and way better than default MSFS turbulence and winds at lower levels / altitudes.

I set turbulence in MSFS 24 to Low, and tune it in ASFS instead.

Wind gradient near the ground is much better with ASFS + RealTurb v2 (they complement each other) than default MSFS 24 winds. Same applies to some effects caused by nearby terrain.

Thermals in MSFS are a true joke, actually convetivity as a whole is a bad joke 😕  ASFS is trying it's best to overcome those limitations.

BTW, same applies to X-Plane ( I use ASXP12 ) although default weather and effects is overall better in XP12 than in any of the MSFS versions...

Unfortunately MSOBO hasn't yet found the way to porperly open their SDK to those who could do a better job with weather in the sim 😕

Edited March 3, 20251 yr by jcomm

Hm. Not sure. I used ActiveSky (current beta su2 B9144) and find it pretty accurate compared to both 2020 and 2024. 2024 has more detail with the clouds. AS adds some more layers.

I fly usually all around and often see the weather report of where I am flying, metar, weather.com, winds. AS does a pretty decent job but then again so does default, I think. Still, I appreciate the aspect of a flight plan and having AS slowly transition the weather as I approach my destination.

Fly a lot in the PNW where the weather is all over the place. Rain, fog, snow, sunshine all in one day. etc

16 hours ago, Georgleboui said:

I stopped using active sky ages ago, ever since I realised how inaccurate it is depicting approaching storms. 

Flying in Asia a lot, and often you have pretty severe weather especially around monsoon season. With default weather you can actually see the system in front of you far on the horizon and on the scope and therefore easily avoid it like you would in real life. 

With AS the weather around you would gradually get worse and worse evenly until you'd be in the middle of the soup all of a sudden. Like a goldfish with a progressively dirtier aquarium. Sure you had slightly nicer clouds with AS, but wasn't worth it for me in the end for that. That was in 2020. 

 

12 hours ago, Simon_C said:

I had AS for years, since FS9 over all MSFS and P3D versions. I barely touched 2020, but now I am full into 2024. I can't judge, because I don't have AS for MSFS2024, but all I can say is, I am perfectly satisfied with weather in MSFS2024, because it is way, way better than anything I have seen in any version of FS of previous simulators, even with Active Sky. And mainly because I have learned in all these years, around 25 of them, to stop looking for perfection.

Agree with all of above. With 2024 currently as it currently stands it's the closest to pre-SU5 MSFS weather I've ever had, it's not there completely yet like it was then, but fairly noticeable improvements over current 2020.
 

May be relevant to this conversation...  Not sure if it is the same in 2024.