Weather Apps?

mordread · Mar 11, 2019

Hi guys, looking for suggestions for an appropriate weather/wind App so I could check conditions before flying. M2P and I live in Ireland.

BD0G · Mar 11, 2019

UAVForecast is used by many here on the forum with great success.
UAV Forecast

RogerMav · Mar 11, 2019

mordread said:
Hi guys, looking for suggestions for an appropriate weather/wind App so I could check conditions before flying. M2P and I live in Ireland.

You could use about two apps to get a better view of the weather in your area of interest. But I would recommend one of them to be UAV Forecast. It has predicted very well the wind conditions for me. I understand it works well in several countries. You will have to test it in Ireland. In Spain is working very precisely for me so far. It will also give you ionospheric interference, KP index and more.

old man mavic · Mar 11, 2019

as stated UAV forecast is reasonably good but no app can give an entirely accurate forecast for your local area, weather forecasting is at best a model based on computer aided results of previous weather patterns,satellite images and air pressure plus jet stream direction and a best guess outcome

brettbrandon · Mar 12, 2019

mordread said:
Hi guys, looking for suggestions for an appropriate weather/wind App so I could check conditions before flying. M2P and I live in Ireland.

I use an iOS app called Drone Buddy. It connects to the closet local weather supplier and gives current wind speed, temp, visability, ect...

Meta4 · Mar 12, 2019

RogerMav said:
It will also give you ionospheric interference, KP index and more.

Neither of those is of any relevance to drone flyers.

Slim.slamma · Mar 12, 2019

Solar Flares

Meta4 · Mar 12, 2019

Solar flares, KP index eetc make no difference to drone flying.
No drone flight has been affected so far.

Sportivod · Mar 12, 2019

Weather Pro is really, really good for general weather prediction. The paid version (I think it's £8 p.a.) has hour by hour predictions of wind, precipitation, sunshine, pressure etc. It has a decent rain radar too and is global.

mordread · Mar 12, 2019

Thanks guys, I'll give those a look. Thumbswayup

mordread · Mar 12, 2019

Interesting... UAV Forecast Shows a small airport near my location(news to me!) But does not indicate a DJI no fly zone? Is this usual.

Sportivod · Mar 12, 2019

The airport could be a part-time job with gliders or only occasional flights (designated landing strip). Some 'airports' worldwide only operate NFZ at certain times, due to the nature of their traffic, so it may not be in the DJI NFZ list, but worth checking locally very carefully!

RogerMav · Mar 12, 2019

Meta4 said:
Solar flares, KP index eetc make no difference to drone flying.
No drone flight has been affected so far.

Sun flares affect everything in telecommunications, as a telecom engineer in 40 years of work have seen it happen. It is not a myth, it has been studied, monitored, etc. It happens very few times but it does happen. It is when the strong flares are strong that the can create interference. I wonder if some of those times that people have experienced rare behaviors in their flying, a few are not due to this event. But no worries we are all entitle to think what we think. I keep an eye in the Kp index from time to time. But that´s me.

Meta4 · Mar 12, 2019

RogerMav said:
Sun flares affect everything in telecommunications, as a telecom engineer in 40 years of work have seen it happen. It is not a myth, it has been studied, monitored, etc. It happens very few times but it does happen. It is when the strong flares are strong that the can create interference. I wonder if some of those times that people have experienced rare behaviors in their flying, a few are not due to this event. But no worries we are all entitle to think what we think. I keep an eye in the Kp index from time to time. But that´s me.

Keep an eye on the Kp index.
The next time you see a drone incident that can be attributed to a high Kp Index, it will be the first one ever recorded.

If it had any effect, there would be hundreds or thousands of drones affected when it happens.
Not just one or two.
Despite the frequent fearmongering, it has never been shown to have any effect on drone flying.
By the time the Kp index is high enough to do that, your drone will be the last of your worries.

MpM · Mar 12, 2019

BD0G said:
UAVForecast is used by many here on the forum with great success.
UAV Forecast

LeeB · Mar 12, 2019

PolarPro also has an app that gives you a nice snapshot of conditions in your area. It also has a golden hour count down and can recommend which filter to use (their bread and butter).

Kneebeard · Mar 12, 2019

Take a look at MyRadar. It shows wind patterns and local forecasts by positioning the crosshairs over a location.

That and UAV Forecast are my two “go to” apps for weather.

Northern_Bob · Mar 12, 2019

mordread said:
Interesting... UAV Forecast Shows a small airport near my location(news to me!) But does not indicate a DJI no fly zone? Is this usual.

Near me is a small airfield consisting of one paved runway and one grass. No tower or runway lights. It, obviously shuts down at dusk and the no fly zone disappears then.
NB