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About PlaneWX

How PlaneWX Keeps Your Briefings Current

Understanding when and why your briefings update - and what you can do to trigger a refresh.

The Briefing Lifecycle

When you create a flight, PlaneWX generates a briefing by analyzing 15+ weather products - METARs, TAFs, winds aloft, AIRMETs, SIGMETs, NBM forecasts, and more. That briefing is a snapshot of conditions at that moment. As weather evolves, your briefing needs to keep pace.

PlaneWX offers several ways your briefing stays current, depending on your plan:

Free Plan

  • ✓15 briefings per week (resets every Monday)
  • ✓Profile-change refresh (doesn't count toward your 15)
  • ✓Full weather product coverage
  • ✓Manual "Check Updates" button (live fetch in the final hour)
  • ✓iOS pre-flight check push 20 to 35 minutes before departure (on by default)
  • - No automatic background refreshes
  • - No email notifications

Casual Plan

  • ✓Unlimited briefings
  • ✓Automatic background refreshes on a smart schedule (up to 5 monitored flights)
  • ✓Profile-change refresh
  • ✓Live Weather Refresh button in the final hour (5-min cooldown)
  • ✓Email alerts for WX Score changes
  • ✓iOS pre-flight check push 20 to 35 minutes before departure (on by default)

Pro Plan

  • ✓Unlimited briefings
  • ✓Automatic background refreshes - up to 10 monitored flights
  • ✓Profile-change refresh
  • ✓Live Weather Refresh button in the final hour (5-min cooldown)
  • ✓Email alerts for WX Score changes
  • ✓iOS pre-flight check push 20 to 35 minutes before departure (on by default)

Pro Plus

  • ✓Everything in Pro, including auto-refresh
  • ✓On-Demand Refresh anytime before departure - not only in the final hour
  • ✓15-minute cooldown days out; Live Weather Refresh (5-min cooldown) in the final hour
  • ✓Refresh even when no new weather products have published yet

What Triggers a Briefing Refresh?

Profile Changes

ALL PLANS

When you update your personal minimums or aircraft profile, PlaneWX asks if you'd like to refresh your active briefings immediately. Your WX Score may change based on the new settings - for example, lowering your crosswind limit could turn favorable into unfavorable.

Free plan: These refreshes do not count toward your weekly limit of 15.

Editing Flight Details

ALL PLANS

Changing your route, departure time, cruise altitude, aircraft assignment, or flight rules triggers an immediate regeneration since the entire weather picture changes.

On-Demand Refresh

PRO PLUS

Tap Refresh on your briefing anytime before departure. Days out it uses a 15-minute cooldown and regenerates even if the product schedule hasn't moved; in the final hour it becomes Live Weather Refresh with a 5-minute cooldown. See On-Demand Refresh.

Automatic Schedule

PRO

Casual and Pro briefings refresh automatically in the background as new weather products become available. The frequency increases as departure approaches - see the schedule below.

Manual Refresh Options

In addition to automatic updates, every plan includes a way to refresh on demand. Free, Casual, and Pro only regenerate when new weather products have published. Pro Plus can refresh anytime before departure - see On-Demand Refresh.

Free Plan - "Check Updates"

A Check Updates button appears on your briefing. Tap it to regenerate your briefing with the latest weather data. Each refresh counts toward your weekly limit of 15.

In the final hour before departure, this button fetches live weather data directly from the Aviation Weather Center for the freshest possible picture.

Casual & Pro - "Live Weather Refresh"

Casual and Pro briefings update automatically, so you typically don't need to refresh manually. However, in the final hour before departure, a Live Weather Refresh button appears so you can pull real-time data on demand.

This button has a 5-minute cooldown between presses to avoid unnecessary load on the weather data sources.

Pro Plus - On-Demand Refresh

One Refresh button stays on your briefing anytime before departure. Days out it regenerates even if no new products have published (15-minute cooldown).

In the final hour the same control becomes Live Weather Refresh(5-minute cooldown). Auto-refresh keeps running either way.

What is "Live Fetch"?

Normally, PlaneWX pulls weather data from its own cache, which is updated on a regular schedule from FAA and NWS sources. This is efficient and fast for the vast majority of your planning window.

In the final hour before departure, freshness matters most. Live fetch bypasses the cache entirely and queries the Aviation Weather Center APIs in real time - METARs, TAFs, SIGMETs, AIRMETs, G-AIRMETs, and PIREPs. If a live request fails, PlaneWX automatically falls back to the most recent cached data so your briefing is never left incomplete.

Auto-Refresh SchedulePRO

Casual and Pro briefings refresh on a smart schedule that matches when NWS weather products actually update. As your departure gets closer, refreshes happen more frequently because forecasts become more accurate and more products become available.

7-14 days outEvery 24 hours

Pattern outlook only - CPC/WPC extended guidance

3-7 days outEvery 12 hours

GFS MOS guidance updates twice daily

1-3 days outEvery 6 hours

NBM hourly forecasts; TAFs join inside about 24 to 30 hours

6-24 hours outEvery 2 hours

Decision window - TAFs, METARs, and AIRMETs updating frequently

Under 6 hoursT-6h → T-15m

Pre-flight - refreshes at departure milestones (T-6h, T-4h, T-2h, T-1h, T-30m, T-15m), not on a fixed hourly clock

Final hourLive weather fetch

The last auto-refresh before departure bypasses the weather cache and pulls real-time data directly from the Aviation Weather Center. A manual Live Weather Refresh button also appears.

Weather Products by Timeframe

Different weather products cover different time horizons. PlaneWX automatically selects the most appropriate products for your departure timeframe:

METARs & TAFs

Current observations and 24-30 hour terminal forecasts

AIRMETs, SIGMETs & G-AIRMETs

Active hazardous weather advisories along your route

NBM (National Blend of Models)

Hourly sky cover, visibility, wind, gusts, and precip chance out to 72 hours (briefing path does not supply a ceiling height)

GFS MOS (MAV/MEX)

MAV station guidance about 6 to 72 hours (ceiling and visibility categories); MEX for extended horizons used with Corridor Watch days 4 to 7

Winds & Temps Aloft (FB Winds)

Forecast winds and temperatures at cruise altitude

CPC/WPC Outlooks

Extended pattern guidance, 8-14 days

Email NotificationsCASUAL & PRO

Casual and Pro users receive proactive email notifications so you're never surprised by a weather change. PlaneWX consolidates updates into digests to keep your inbox clean.

WX Score Alerts

When your WX Score changes by 10+ points - covering all your monitored trips, including flights days away. Use these to track how conditions are trending during the planning period. Sent immediately if your flight is under 6 hours away, otherwise included in your next digest. Trips more than 7 days out land in your morning digest instead of a separate email.

Morning Digest

At 5 AM, one email with your home airport forecast, all active trip updates, and any overnight score changes - instead of multiple individual emails.

Follow Me

Optional sub-setting under Daily Forecast in Profile → Notifications - Pro and above only. When enabled, PlaneWX checks your default aircraft's last ADS-B landing airport each morning and, if you're away from home, shows that field's weather in the digest instead of your home airport. Requires a tail number on your default aircraft and ADS-B trackability. Free and Casual pilots still get the digest at home airport.

Quiet Hours10 PM - 5 AM

Non-urgent emails are held and included in your morning digest. Imminent flight alerts (under 6 hours) still come through immediately.

Before Departure

These go out near departure on every plan. Pre-Flight Text is Pro Plus.

Pre-Flight Check

PlaneWX does not send a Final Pre-Flight Briefing email. Near departure, an iOS pre-flight check push can fire 20 to 35 minutes before departure with your route and current WX Score (on by default under Profile, then Notifications: Pre-flight check; not plan-gated). The separate Pre-Flight Text (Pro Plus) is the opt-in SMS in that same 20 to 35 minute window, with a verified phone required.

Push NotificationsiOS

iOS push is separate from email and from text alerts. The full list of what can push, each Profile toggle by name, quiet hours, and Send test lives on the iOS Push Notifications guide.

Score changes: within 24 hours only

The Score changes push fires only when departure is within 24 hours. Outside that window, email and the in-app bell still carry score moves. Other push types (pre-flight check, FRAT reminder, ground, mentor, Auto-Brief, self-debrief) use their own timing, not that 24-hour gate.

Score changes (within 24 hours)

When your WX Score moves by your alert threshold (default 10 points) and the trip is within 24 hours of departure. If the score bounces, the notification updates in place rather than stacking, so your shade shows the current score.

Also push when the score improves

Sub-toggle under Score changes. Turn it off to be pushed only when a score drops. Manage it on the Push Notifications card in Profile.

Email vs push for score moves

Email

  • • Monitored trips across the planning horizon
  • • Planning trends (score drift over days)
  • • Morning digest and quiet hours
  • • Rate-limited to once per 6 hours per trip

Score change push

  • • Within 24 hours of departure only
  • • Same weather-only threshold as email
  • • Collapses to show the current score
  • • Respects quiet hours shared with text alerts

Manage every push type in Profile on the Push Notifications card. Details: iOS Push Notifications. Requires the PlaneWX iOS app with notifications enabled in iOS Settings.

Tips for Free Plan Users

With 15 briefings per week, here are some tips to make the most of them:

  • 1.Set your minimums first. Get your personal minimums and aircraft profile dialed in before creating flights. Profile-change refreshes are free and don't count toward your 15.
  • 2.Create flights closer to departure. A briefing created 2 days out uses higher-accuracy products (TAFs, METARs) than one created 10 days out. You get more value per briefing.
  • 3.Watch for "Check Updates." If your briefing shows a Check Updates button, new weather products have come out since your last briefing - tap it to get a fresh picture.
  • 4.Your counter resets every Monday. Unused briefings don't carry over, so don't save them up.

Good to Know

  • • Your trip card shows when the briefing was last updated and its freshness
  • • Archived or past flights stop receiving updates
  • • In the final hour, both auto-refresh and manual refresh use live data from the Aviation Weather Center
  • • If a live fetch fails, PlaneWX falls back to the most recent cached data automatically
  • • Casual and Pro users can customize email preferences in Profile → Notifications
  • • Push Score changes (iOS) only fire within 24 hours of departure. Email covers the full planning horizon. See the iOS Push Notifications guide.
  • • Pro Plus can tap Refresh anytime before departure. See the On-Demand Refresh guide.
  • • Quiet hours use your departure timezone as a proxy for your local time
  • • The WX Score breakdown is identical between plans - both get full detail