Real Weather Tips for X-Plane Pilots

Thanks! The data on this page is provided courtesy of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Department of Atmospheric Sciences. The weather data is provided free of charge and is made available for non-commercial use only. This information is designed for the entertainment of flight simulator pilots only. Do not even think of using this for real aviation planning.

Click here --> Current METAR weather observations <-- Click here.

Download and Install Instructions

X-Plane comes with full support for this weather data. You don't need to download any additional software, just download the data and save the file in your X-Plane folder. However, you can download software (which runs in the background) that will automatically fetch this data every hour for you.

Automatic downloads (Windows):
Guy LaRochelle ( xweather@siglr.com) has written new weather downloader. X-Plane Weather AutoLoad Utility.
Don Nolder ( imho@blundstone.com.au) has written RWXUpdate Version 1.04 (click here for the docs) -- RWXUpdate is a simple utility that runs in the background and automatically downloads the real-time weather data for the USA every hour.
Chris Ellis (flightsimuk@lineone.net) has written a METAR to X-Plane-SAO format converter.
Automatic downloads (Macintosh):
Hai Ng (nghai@whatexit.com) now has a mac program to auto-download the weather. Click here to go to get the program.
Sad Note: Gene Rowell originally developed a program to do this on the Mac platform. Gene's home page used to be: http://www2.cajun.net/~gener/RWA/
Gene passed away January 24, 1999. I will continue to keep this entry in memory of his contributions to the flight simulator community. Gene: Thanks for all your great contributions. Your work is greatly appreciated!
Netscape: Shift-click on the above URL. (Option-Click for Macs.) This will open up a "Save As" dialog box. Select your x-plane folder and save the file "METAR.rwx" inside of it.
MS Internet Explorer: click on the above URL. This loads the current weather data into your browser so you can view it. While viewing the data, go to select "Save As ..." from the "File" menu. A dialog box opens allowing one to save the file as "METAR.rwx" in any file folder. You should save into your x-plane folder.
Automatic downloads (Perl): I have developed a program which automatically fetches the data for you every hour. Just start it up and go fly. You don't need to worry about downloading the new data every hour, it's done for you. This means that even if you do not move at all, you will see the weather update every hour to match the current conditions. Check back soon for more info. This is great for long flights. You can't know exactly what NY will be like when you leave LA because it hasn't happened yet. :-)

Once the file "METAR.rwx" has been placed into the x-plane folder, X-Plane does the rest automatically. It will periodically scan the file for the closest airport or weather station and use the current weather information from there. This will make actual cross-countries realistic, with weather changing enroute based on the real weather patterns.

If you have a question or problem with this data please read the Real-WX FAQ first.
Please visit the main Real Weather page for news, announcements, and other information.

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Last modified: 10/29/2003
Curtis L. Olson