With WeatherSpork version 4.3.0, you now have the option of selecting FL450 as the upper limit on the clouds and weather display. The upper limit on earlier releases was restricted FL200. This will allow you to see winds (speed and direction) as well as clouds and advisories (G-AIRMETs and SIGMETs) that extend higher in...
Category: The Spork Report
Cross track distance from fly-by waypoints
When you’ve defined a proposed route in WeatherSpork you may notice that it picks a number of “proximity” fly-by stations (airports) to include along that route. These show up on the Map view as rounded square icons like those shown below. But how far is KMSV off of your great circle route from KBOS...
New static Imagery from the HREF model
With WeatherSpork version 4.3.0, we’ve extended the static Imagery to include aviation forecasts from the High Resolution Ensemble Forecast (HREF) model. The HREF is updated four times a day and provides a forecast lead time of 36 hours at one hour time increments. In WeatherSpork you can find these in the Imagery view right...
Thunderstorm planning with WeatherSpork, Part 3
Part 1 and Part 2 of this three video series showed a window of opportunity to depart Savannah, Georgia during the morning hours between 14Z and 15Z arriving in Charlotte, North Carolina before 17Z. Was this guidance on the money? Watch Part 3 of this video series to see how it all played out. And...
Thunderstorm planning with WeatherSpork, Part 2
Part 1 of this series of three videos focused on how to use WeatherSpork to find the best time of departure for a trip the following day given a threat of thunderstorms along the proposed route. Part 2 of this series takes place on the morning of this flight. Watch this 20 minute video...
Thunderstorms a threat? Use WeatherSpork to plan your departure, Part 1
It’s that time of the year again. Snow is finally beginning to melt in the northern tier of states and temps in the deep south are topping 90 degrees on a regular basis. Moreover, G-AIRMETs for for airframe ice begin to morph into convective SIGMETs. WeatherSpork is your best tool to find that perfect...
A shortcut from the Route Profile to Airports view
In WeatherSpork we will be adding a number of shortcuts to cut down on the number of clicks or taps needed to navigate to other important guidance within the app. Here’s a video that demonstrates one such shortcut to get to the Airports view for a specific station identified as a fly-by airport in...
Datalink weather: Choices and capabilities
Check out this new AOPA video featuring CFI and former NWS research meteorologist, Scott Dennstaedt...
March 2018 SporkNews
Hello and welcome to WeatherSpork! March 1, 2018 was the public debut of WeatherSpork, your best online source for aviation weather and education. At WeatherSpork, we couldn’t be more pleased at the response we’ve gotten thus far. Over the last month we’ve received a ton of very positive feedback you can read here. A big thanks...
About “time” in WeatherSpork
It’s essential to know the valid time of any weather guidance you may use. There are two choices in WeatherSpork for time, namely, device time (local time) and Zulu (GMT). In WeatherSpork you will find times listed in many locations. You have the option of displaying local or Zulu time. You can make that...
Syncing the ETD Finder in WeatherSpork
Based on some of the great feedback we have received, WeatherSpork version 4.2.5 will now sync up with the three “ETD Finders.” These show the results of the patent pending “Wheels Up Departure Advisor and appear in the Route, Map and Grid views at the bottom center of the display. Simply tap or click...
WeatherSpork’s simple design
WeatherSpork has a very elegant and simple design that is mission-oriented. Even for the most technically-challenged pilot it will only take you a few minutes to harness its true power. Furthermore, it’s designed to be nearly identical across platforms with very few exceptions. So once you learn how to use the app on one platform, you...