Station Weather app brings graphical weather to iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch
There’s no shortage of weather resources available to pilots in today’s popular EFB apps and they all do a great job at presenting text weather reports, interactive radar imagery and complete weather briefings for pilots.
Sometimes though you just need a quick glance at the latest radar imagery, or view the updated METAR to see how things are trending. Yes, you could visit your favorite all-in-one aviation app, but this usually takes several taps and screens to get to the data you’re looking for. For this reason, we still think supplemental weather apps that specialize in one or two weather products have their place.
Our favorite app for checking radar imagery and precipitation movement is MyRadar, which presents a fast-loading, looping nationwide radar feed. There are lots of app options for doing the same thing with METARs/TAFs, and a good one to check out is StationWeather. This app is dedicated to a clean, graphical view of METARs, TAFs and NOTAMs and is perfect for a quick look at the latest text weather from your iPhone, iPad or Apple Watch.
It’s also one of the few aviation apps to include a Today Widget, which allows you to quickly view METARs for your favorite airports. This is especially useful on the iPad thanks to the recent iOS 13 updates which display the widgets on the home screen in the landscape orientation.
The app was recently updated with significant performance improvements and includes an all-new Apple Watch app. It also includes new weather complications that you can use to customize your Apple Watch face with an always-up-to-date METAR or airport status display (VFR/MVFR/IFR).
Here’s a full look at what the app has to offer on iPad:
METARs–When you first open the app you’ll see a customizable list of airports on the left side of the screen and a graphical depiction of the weather features on the right.
You can view the raw METAR, TAF and NOTAMs by tapping the Station Info button at the top right of the screen.
TAFs–Swipe from right to left on the METAR to view a visual display of the TAF. You can then slide your finger across the top timeline to view the forecast weather changes over each hour.
Weather charts–The app features a selection of wind/temperature and significant weather forecast charts for just about every region in the world.
Map–View a worldwide map showing color-coded flight categories for each airport that has weather reporting.
Dictionary–Use this tool to quickly decode abbreviations used in weather reports and forecasts.
Apple Watch support–This offers quick access to raw METARs and a graphical view of winds and clouds on the Apple Watch.
You can also add custom complications to your favorite watch screens to view METAR information.
StationWeather is offered in two versions – Lite and Pro. The Lite version allows you to store up to 3 airports in the favorites view, but includes most of the other features of the Pro version. You’ll need to purchase the Pro version for $3.99 to get the Apple Watch app, but it’s well worth it for those who regularly use apps on their watch.
I downloaded the program on my iPad and the thing did not react to all commands on the opening screen. The “Airports”mtab would open then crash.
Bought the Pro, and discovered that their Airport Data Base does not have a couple of airports that we fly to. One was officially opened in October, 2019, Williston North Dakota, KXWA. It is not in Station Weather Data Base! I might have wasted $3.99!