Doug shares his process for getting a weather briefing and the go-to online tools he uses. While mindful of the minimum legal requirements of a standard briefing; i.e., to become familiar with all available information, his primary goal is to get an effective outlook on the weather.

Doug starts with the big picture. As soon as he knows he will be making a flight, Doug starts planning. Whether it's tomorrow, in thirty minutes or six months out he starts planning right away. Professional pilots are always thinking weather and there is plenty of information available to feed their interest. By the time the day arrives weather reports are less of a snapshot and more of an updated observation; how fast is that cold front over the Mississippi moving?

DUATS (Direct User Access Terminal System) was established by the FAA established in 1989 and was the first on-line weather resource for pilots. It was a go-to favorite for Doug until its retirement.

Today, the first stop for Doug online is ADDS (the Aviation Digital Data Service) found at aviationweather.gov maintained by the AWC (Aviation Weather Center). This site offers comprehensive weather for the entire USA and pilots can drill down to local levels for current and forecasted weather details.

https://www.aviationweather.gov

WeatherSpork is a relatively new weather app but it's creator, Scott Dennstaedt, is an experienced FAA-certified instrument instructor. He is also a former NWS (National Weather Service) research meteorologist and aviation author. Scott is the president of AvWxWorkshops Inc. and the administrator of AvWxWorkshops.com which is a fabulous resource for weather knowledge content. He has been fascinated with weather since childhood and is a prolific writer on the subject. WeatherSpork offers a unique picture of weather conditions and is now an indispensable component of Doug's EFB (electronic flight bag).

https://avwxworkshops.com and WeatherSpork

https://www.1800wxbrief.com is a weather briefing service offered by Lockheed Martin and fully authorized by the FAA. The website offers an impressive graphical data display of weather conditions. This is a good complement to the ADDS site. Of course, calling its telephonic resource counterpart 1-800-WX-BRIEF (992-7433) provides the pilot with a legal brief and true CYA.

Good FAA resource for obtaining a good, and legal, weather briefing.

View from the pilot in training. What I learned...

"I've been flying long enough to remember dialing up a briefer on a rotary phone to get a weather picture. We've come a long way. The information we have at our disposal with the internet and our EFB's is amazing, and overwhelming at the same time. Doug helped me by demonstrating a sequence of sources that can generate a good image of the flight environment. While we still have to check that box for a legal briefing there's nothing stopping us from utilizing whatever resources we like to help us make good flying decisions."

BW

Good FAA resource for obtaining a good, and legal, weather briefing.