AOPA Services

As winter blusters its way across the continental United States, weather and how it affects your flying is more important than ever. Before you can answer that all-important question--to go or not to go--you've got to consider the weather at hand as well as the skills and tools you have to deal with it. And when you've gathered that information, for a student pilot, the challenge becomes how to sift through and translate the large amount of weather data into a comprehensive picture.

So where does that leave you? Fortunately, as an AOPA member, you've got lots of tools to help you. AOPA's Meteorlogix weather service provides radar, satellite, and both graphical and text-based forecasts and current weather information to help you "see" the conditions that await you en route and at your destination. It's free for all members, including AOPA Flight Training members.

For even greater visual acuity, try AOPA's Real-Time Flight Planner. This robust program lets you overlay your proposed route with a variety of weather graphics, as well as temporary flight restrictions. And a complete list of National Weather Service acronyms is available online to help you decode textual reports.

What about some basic educational tools to help you strengthen your understanding of weather's challenges? Try the AOPA Air Safety Foundation's Online Safety Center, where you'll find courses that focus on ceilings and visibility, thunderstorm avoidance, and how to give pilot reports. Don't miss ASF's Hot Spot on winter weather, which provides a compilation of resources for that specific topic, and the Safety Quizzes on aircraft icing and wing contamination.