Aviation weather explained

Aviation Routine Weather Reports (METARs) are a must for every flight, but for something so vital they are difficult to read

Even programs like Foreflight don’t decode all of the METAR

They typically leave off the remarks (RMK) section leaving pilots to wonder what the rest of the METAR means

With a complete cockpit weather system, lightning, cloud tops, cell movement and other information are included to give a pilot as complete a thunderstorm picture as possible

That’s great, and precip and storms are important to VFR pilots, too, who can use the big picture to avoid areas of rain and thus marginal VFR or worse conditions