How to use the VFR Wetter app

The recommendation card shows one of three statuses – Flyable, Marginal or No-go – together with source chips (e.g. METAR, DWD, MOSMIX) and the main reason. If an airport with its own METAR/TAF is selected, that official report takes priority; official DWD and MeteoAlarm warnings apply on top of that.

Exactly how the individual factors – visibility, clouds, wind, gusts, precipitation, thunderstorm risk and more – are weighted and combined in detail is something we deliberately don't publish. But the expandable "Why this assessment?" row always shows the reasons that mattered in this specific case, plus a data-quality score (stars) and a short-term trend for the next three hours.

Below that you'll find the "Since HH:MM" card (what's changed since the last refresh), "If you launch now" (a traffic-light outlook for the next three hours) and the live sun position with day/golden-hour/twilight phase.

Cloud profile: a vertical cross-section of the sky

The meteogram shows a real vertical cross-section of the atmosphere instead of nominal cloud bands: low, mid and high cloud sit on a compressed altitude axis that gives the lowest 5,000 ft about half the panel, with opacity following the okta coverage boundaries (3/8, 5/8, 7/8). Cloud base is computed from the temperature/dew-point spread instead of starting at the ground, so the gap you could actually fly through becomes visible. Convective cells (towering cumulus) are drawn as their own base-to-top blocks, alongside ceiling and the 0 °C and −10 °C isotherms marking the icing window. A significant-weather row shows WMO symbols like an official chart, and night hours are shaded.

Data source: DWD ICON on eleven pressure levels. When the profile is unavailable, the display automatically falls back to nominal cloud bands.

Density altitude, pressure altitude, ISA deviation and humidity for a realistic sense of takeoff and climb performance – a tool, not a replacement for POH calculations. For the rule-of-thumb math behind it, see Calculating Density Altitude.

Crosswind calculator

Load runway data or enter wind direction/speed manually – the app shows the crosswind and tailwind component per runway heading and recommends the most favorable one. The formula and rule of thumb behind it are in Calculating Crosswind.

In Go Fly mode the app shows your real GPS position on the same weather map. A route previously chosen in the route planner stays visible only as orientation – it never replaces the GPS position. A compact field shows the overall corridor verdict as OK, Check or No Go, plus the nearest METAR station within 40 km, continuously updated.

Animated wind field

Both the radar and Go Fly views let you toggle on an animated wind field: surface wind plus two model pressure levels (~2,500 and ~5,000 ft). The ft values are deliberately approximations only, not altitude-resolved flight wind.

The status page in the Current tab reads the same, already-loaded data snapshot – no extra network requests – and lists every possible source individually: active, not used (e.g. because no suitable ground station or regional model exists at this location), or as a reported outage. So you can see transparently whether, say, a nearby METAR, TAF, DWD radar or MOSMIX actually fed into the current assessment.

The language icon in the top bar opens the switcher dialog. UI, professional assessments, the widget, error messages and METAR/TAF plain text all switch together with the chosen language; raw flight weather reports, ICAO codes and proper names deliberately stay unchanged. Switching language restarts the app.