Corridor Watch
Monitor your frequently-flown routes with a 7-day VFR outlook at a glance.
Premium Feature
Available on Pro and Enterprise plans
What Is Corridor Watch?
Corridor Watch lets you save your frequently-flown routes and monitor their weather outlook without creating a trip each time. It's perfect for:
- •Regular commutes — Home base to second home, office, or hangar
- •Frequent business routes — Routes you fly monthly or weekly
- •Trip planning — See which day looks best before committing to a departure time
7-Day VFR Outlook
Each saved corridor displays a 7-day timeline showing VFR probability for each day. The probability is calculated by taking the minimum VFR probability across all regions along your route — if any region has poor conditions, you'll see it.
Color Coding
VFR conditions expected — favorable for flight
Mixed conditions — plan carefully, have alternates
IFR/MVFR conditions likely — not recommended for VFR
How It Works
Corridor Watch uses PlaneWX's Synoptic Intelligence™ to synthesize weather data from multiple sources:
Days 1-3: NBM Calibration
VFR probability is calibrated using NOAA's National Blend of Models (NBM), which provides hourly probabilistic forecasts for ceiling and visibility. This is the same high-confidence data used in your flight briefings.
Days 4-7: GFS MOS Calibration
Extended forecasts use GFS MOS Extended (MEX) data, which provides ceiling and visibility categories out to 7 days. While less precise than NBM, it gives you a reasonable outlook for planning purposes.
Regional Synthesis
The AI synthesizes Area Forecast Discussions (AFDs) from all Weather Forecast Offices along your route, providing context about weather patterns, frontal passages, and significant weather events.
Creating a Trip from Corridor Watch
When you find a good day in Corridor Watch, you can instantly create a trip for that date:
- 1Click any day in the 7-day timeline (green or yellow days are clickable)
- 2The Trip Wizard opens with the route and date pre-filled
- 3Add your departure time, aircraft, and personal minimums
- 4Generate your full briefing with GO Score and detailed analysis
Pro tip: Look for the icon on each day — it appears on days that are good or marginal, indicating you can create a trip.
Best Flying Window
When you expand a corridor, you'll see a "Best Flying Window" card that identifies the optimal period for flight based on the 7-day outlook. This synthesizes:
- •Consecutive days with good or marginal VFR probability
- •Weather trend (improving, stable, or deteriorating)
- •Pattern analysis from regional AFD synthesis
Today → Wednesday
High pressure dominates with clear skies and light winds
Weather Trend
Each corridor shows a trend indicator that helps you understand how conditions are evolving:
A deteriorating trend means conditions are expected to worsen — consider flying sooner if possible. An improving trend means better conditions are coming — waiting may give you a better window.
Understanding Regions
When you expand a corridor, you'll see the weather regions it crosses. Each region shows today's VFR probability. Click any region to see its full weather summary including:
- •Synopsis — Plain-language weather overview
- •Dominant Pattern — High pressure, cold front, etc.
- •Key Hazards — IFR, turbulence, icing, convection
- •Detailed Analysis — In-depth discussion from AFD synthesis
Important Notes
- •Corridor Watch is for planning, not GO/NO-GO decisions. Always generate a full briefing for your specific departure time before flying.
- •Extended forecasts (days 4-7) have lower confidence. Use them for general planning, but expect the outlook to change as your departure approaches.
- •VFR probability is regional, not point-specific. Your actual departure and arrival airports may have different conditions than the regional average.
Adding a Corridor
To add a new corridor to your watch list:
- 1Click the + button in the Corridor Watch header
- 2Enter your origin and destination airports (ICAO codes)
- 3Optionally give the corridor a name (e.g., "Weekend Home")
- 4Save — the corridor will immediately show its 7-day outlook
Corridor Limits by Plan
- Free: Corridor Watch not available
- Pro: Up to 6 monitored corridors
- Enterprise: Unlimited corridors
Data Refresh
Corridor Watch data is refreshed automatically:
- •Regional summaries — Updated 4 times daily (05:30, 11:30, 17:30, 23:30 UTC) after new AFDs are published
- •NBM calibration — Updated with each regional refresh (hourly data)
- •GFS MOS — Updated twice daily (00Z and 12Z model runs)
You can manually refresh by clicking the refresh icon in the Corridor Watch header.