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GRAB REAL-TIME WEATHER FROM THE NET
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This downloads the following files:

METAR.rwx:

This file contains weather in METAR form at countless airports, but with a
far higher density in the USA.
The METAR data, of course, contains weather at the surface, with cloud
bases for various elevations above the airport.
X-Plane can only guess at cloud TOPS and WINDS ALOFT based on this
limited data from the surface.
METAR.rwx is text, so you can easily open it up and see the weather.

winds.rwx:

This file has winds aloft at lots of points in the UNITED STATES.
This file loads winds 10,000 ft and 34,000 ft into X-Plane, so you have
winds aloft for both light planes and airliners,
with interpolation for turboprops that fly in between.
winds.rwx is text, so you can easily open it up and see the weather.
NOTE: THIS FILE IS NOT DOWNLOADED ANY LONGER, SINCE THE
GRIB FILES BELOW, WHICH ARE GLOBAL, NOW SUPERSEDE THIS
OLD USA-ONLY FILE.
BUT YOU CAN MAKE YOUR OWN WINDS.RWQ IF YOU WANT TO.

global_winds.grib and global_turbulence.grib

Starting with X-Plane 10.50, these are GLOBAL winds-aloft files that are
ALSO downloaded so you can get winds anywhere on Earth.
As with winds.rwx, this file loads winds 10,000 ft and 34,000 ft into X-Plane,
so you have winds aloft for both light planes and airliners,
with interpolation for turboprops that fly in between.
NOTE! These files are DELETED after they are scanned so they do not
clog up your hard drive with un-needed files that you could not read
anyway.
So you will not see these files except momentarily during download, and
their format is complicated and binary so they are not meant to be read or
modified.

global_winds.grib is winds aloft. THE FILE IS STORED AT 1.00 DEG

SPACING,
from "http://nomads.ncep.noaa.gov/cgi-bin/filter_gfs_1p00.pl?"

global_turbulence.grib is turbulence aloft. THE FILE IS STORED AT 1.25

DEG SPACING,
from "http://www.ftp.ncep.noaa.gov/data/nccf/com/gfs/prod"

We do NOT set temperature aloft with these.

Temps aloft are extrapolated from the METARs.

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NOW let’s talk about your ability to MODIFY the weather in X-Plane by
making some sort of add-on!
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Have the user put the sim in REAL-WEATHER mode as per above.
In that screen, they should TURN THE DOWNLOAD OPTION OFF so X-
Plane does not over-write your file!

Now, you can make your own METAR.rwx file and winds.rwx file!!
This way, you can make both the METARS and winds aloft.. anything you
like!
(Though we do, indeed, read only winds at 10,000 ft and 34,000 ft, with
interpolation in between them, and interpolation to surface winds from the
METAR.rwx below them.

To test the files that you make, tie command

”sim/operation/load_real_weather" to a joystick button or key to test loading
the weather at any moment to scan the files you made,
or issue the command via plugin!
Or just hit the DOWNLOAD now button right there in the real-weather
screen.
With weather in real-weather mode, and download off but scan on, simply
make your own METAR.rwx and winds.rwx file and scan them with
”sim/operation/load_real_weather" any time you like!

Now for more detail on making these files work any place you like, at any
level of detail you like up to the maximum detail currently supported by X-
Plane:

For global coverage of any level of detail you like, you can add your own
entries into the METAR.rwx file.

In the METAR.rwx file, you can enter a METAR just like for any airport, but
just enter an airport ID of MDEG, followed by the longitude, latitude, and
elevation in METERS of the imaginary airport you just created for the
purposes of setting weather at this location.
And you can enter all the MDEG airports you like in a single file, to set the
weather anywhere you like.
X-Plane has 16 weather envelopes spanning the area around the flying
region.
Each bucket is about 1.0 degrees of longitude by 0.6 degrees of latitude, or
about 35 miles or so.
So, if you put an MDEG airport every degree of longitude and every half
degree of latitude, you will be entering about the right number of MDEG
airports to
get all the detail you can out of the X-Plane weather engine.
NOTE: JUST AS WITH ANY METAR REPORT, THE REPORT
FOLLOWING THE MDEG, LONGITUDE, LATITUDE AND ELEVATION IN
METERS SHOULD START WITH THE ZULU TIME OF THE REPORT!

For global coverage of any level of detail you like, you can add your own
entries into the winds.rwx files.

In the winds.rwx file, you can enter a winds aloft just like for any wind-
reporting station, but just enter a wind reporting-station ID of DEG (NOT
MDEG! These are 3-letter IDs!), followed by the longitude, latitude, and
winds aloft, then X-Plane will set the winds aloft at this location as you
enter.
And you can enter all the DEG wind-reporting station you like in a single
file, to set the weather anywhere you like.
Again, X-Plane has 16 weather envelopes spanning the area around the
flying region.
Again, each bucket is about 1.0 degrees of longitude by 0.6 degrees of
latitude, or about 35 miles or so.
So, if you put DEG wind-reporting station every degree of longitude and
every half degree of latitude, you will be entering about the right number of
wind-reporting station to
get all the detail you can out of the X-Plane weather engine.

NOTE: YOU MUST ENTER A FULL WINDS-ALOFT REPORT AT ALL THE

ALTITUDES YOU SEE IN THE DOWNLOADED WINDS.RWX FILE FOR IT
TO BE READ!
X-Plane will only USE the data at 12,000 ft and 34,000 ft (with interpolation
in between them) but you have to ENTER all altitudes for the wind file to be
scanned properly.
No problem entering 0 for all data at all altitudes that are not 12,000 ft and
34,000 ft.

Whew!
So there you go!
With the files and options we have on hand, it is very very easy for you to
create any weather pattern you like, anywhere on Earth, up to the limit of X-
Planes’ weather resolution, by simply making your own METAR.rwx and
winds.rwx!

austin