The first weather management tool for Microsoft Flight Simulator has been announced by REX : Weather Force is a real-time engine based mainly based on METAR with a 1/8th mile precision, updated 10 minutes, with data provided by NOAA. It will also retrieve data from NCEP (data updates twice a day) to model more global atmospheric conditions (temperature, winds at high altitude).
REX will be also able to add smoother transitions, the ability to search specific location and historic weather data if you want to customize your flight situation. Different from the default Microsoft scenarios included in Flight Simulator, those provided by REX are dynamic and can evolve during the flight.
Press Release :
“Weather Force is the NEW metar-based dynamic real-time weather engine for Microsoft Flight Simulator.
By utilizing inter-process communication with the simulator via fine granular control, you will experience automated, dynamic, and smooth weather transitions from real-world reporting metar stations. Weather Force also includes a wide range of our proprietary dynamic, changing (non-static) weather scenarios. These scenarios are unlike the static weather presets that ship with the simulator.
With real-time metar data as the foundation, the Weather Force weather engine provides the most realistic weather experience.
- The metar data is updated 6x an hour and downloaded directly from NOAA. Our data can provide accurate results within a 1/8th mile of a given point.
- Utilizes uniquely built algorithms to combine both metar and model data to cover sparse areas such as deserts and oceans.
- The GFS (Global Forecast System) Model data is downloaded 2x a day from NCEP and provides key atmospheric conditions to give a snapshot of temperature and winds aloft.
Beyond the data
Weather Force reads remarks provided with live metar reports to determine if storms are near the aerodrome. Thus, even if the automated metar may indicate clear conditions, if remarks indicate storms nearby, storms will be generated near the reporting station as in real life.
Powerful weather search
If you are looking to fly at a particular location or in certain weather conditions, we have included a handy weather search feature that allows you to search by airport or by weather criteria.
Dynamic Changing Weather Scenarios
To mix things up and add more interest, we have supplied dynamic changing weather scenarios (DCWS). “Dynamic” is key about our weather scenarios in that they are not static like the default preset weather inside Microsoft Flight Simulator. Weather Force scenarios dynamically change over time. A weather scenario will provide various elements of changing weather over the course of your flight. Examples provided below of included scenarios:
- Fair weather
- Approaching cold front
- Approaching warm front
- Hot and humid summer
- Lake effect snows
- Winter storm
- Crisp winter
- Breezy
- Spring showers
Because DCWS are centralized on our servers, we can periodically add new and exciting scenarios, which will be automatically added to your application without the need to have to update Weather Force.
In Weather Force you can easily track your 10 favorite airports, therefore, clearly identifying what the detailed weather is like at each. If you require a more detailed report, simply click on the ICAO and receive in-depth data about the airport weather conditions.
Behind the Scenes
- The Goal
The goal of Weather Force was to provide a more robust weather environment. We have been provided a powerful weather system as a start, therefore we worked hard to render the weather as it should be yet stay true to the validity of real-world metar data.
- Smoothing Mechanism
In addition, we have carefully added a smoothing mechanism to the engine to gradually smooth and transition the weather over time between updates. You have complete control over the weather update factors as well as transition speed.”