Understanding Your Briefing
How to read and interpret your PlaneWX weather briefing, including the Enhanced View with visual data grids.
Enhanced View vs. Classic View
PlaneWX offers two ways to view your briefing. Both contain the same weather data and analysis — the difference is how the information is presented.
Enhanced View
Default- • Visual data grids with at-a-glance metrics
- • Color-coded flight categories (VFR/MVFR/IFR/LIFR)
- • Gauge bars showing where values fall in their range
- • Severity badges for turbulence and icing
- • Convective Watch section with threat assessment
- • Source attribution on every section
Classic View
- • Traditional text-based briefing format
- • Bulleted analysis for each weather section
- • Familiar layout for pilots used to standard briefings
- • Same data, presented as narrative text
How to switch: Look for the Enhanced View | Classic toggle near the top of your briefing, just above the Gotchas section. Your preference is saved automatically and persists across sessions.
Briefing Layout
Every briefing follows a consistent structure, from top to bottom:
WX Score & Flight Details
Your overall score, route, aircraft, departure time, and data confidence badge
Gotchas
Top-priority weather concerns that need your attention before flying
Briefing Summary
A plain-English summary of overall conditions, en-route weather, and key considerations
Convective Watch
Thunderstorm and convective threat assessment (only appears when convective activity is detected)
Weather Sections (5 sections)
Ceilings & Visibility, Turbulence, Icing, Winds Aloft, and AIRMETs/SIGMETs
Terminal Weather, Sources & Raw Data
METAR/TAF cards, weather product sources, and raw data for pilots who want the full picture
Section Status Colors
Each weather section is color-coded based on how conditions compare to your personal minimums and general aviation safety standards:
Conditions are well within your minimums. No concerns.
Conditions are close to your limits. Extra attention needed.
Conditions exceed your minimums. Carefully consider whether to fly.
Weather Sections Explained
Ceilings & Visibility
Shows cloud bases and visibility at your departure, arrival, and en-route. In Enhanced View, you'll see a visual grid with independent color-coding for ceiling and visibility values.
Flight Category Colors
“CLR” means clear skies (no ceiling) and “10+” means unrestricted visibility — both displayed in green. Values reflect the worst-case forecast from TAF periods covering your departure/arrival window.
Convective Watch
ConditionalThis section only appears when thunderstorm or convective activity is detected along your route. It combines data from multiple numerical weather models (HRRR, GFS, ECMWF) and the Weather Prediction Center (WPC) to assess the threat level.
Threat levels:
- • Isolated — Scattered, pop-up cells possible; avoidance usually straightforward
- • Scattered — Multiple cells or lines; route deviations likely needed
- • Widespread — Large-area convective activity; significant rerouting or delay recommended
The Convective Watch uses CAPE, K-Index, and Lifted Index from model soundings along your route. See the Hazardous Weather page for detailed explanations of these indices.
Turbulence
Multi-model turbulence analysis using wind shear and Richardson number calculations from HRRR, GFS, and ECMWF data. In Enhanced View, you'll see a grid showing severity during climb, cruise, and descent phases.
Icing
Icing assessment based on freezing level, relative humidity, and temperature profiles from multiple models. In Enhanced View, the grid highlights the freezing level, shows severity by flight phase, and indicates your FIKI equipment status.
Winds Aloft
Route-averaged wind analysis showing headwind/tailwind component, crosswind at departure and arrival, and the overall impact on your flight time. In Enhanced View, the grid shows wind direction, speed, headwind/tailwind component, and crosswind at your airports.
AIRMETs & SIGMETs
Active weather advisories that intersect your route corridor and altitude. PlaneWX uses polygon-based intersection testing for G-AIRMETs and filters by altitude to show only advisories relevant to your flight.
Source Attribution
In Enhanced View, every weather section includes a “Derived from” line at the bottom, showing exactly which data sources were used for that section's analysis. This transparency helps you understand the basis of each assessment.
Example: “Derived from HRRR + GFS + ECMWF wind-shear and Richardson number analysis at FL115 • Corroborated by AIRMETs Tango and PIREPs”
Some sections also have a Sources button that opens a detailed popover with the raw data products used, model details, and confidence information.