How is PlaneWX different from my EFB or aviationweather.gov?

Your EFB is excellent for charts, filing, and day-of flying. Aviationweather.gov and Flight Service (including 1800WXBRIEF) give you official weather products. PlaneWX sits beside those tools. It does not replace them. What PlaneWX adds is decision support days out: a WX Score matched to your aircraft and personal minimums, a dynamic FRAT on the FAA PAVE framework, and mentors who see the same briefing you see. You can also share a flight plan into PlaneWX from a supported EFB. You stay PIC. Charts, filing, and official sources stay where they belong.

Is the briefing accurate?

Your briefing uses the same official observations and forecasts every pilot relies on: METARs, TAFs, PIREPs, SIGMETs and model guidance. It can only be as accurate as those forecasts, and every forecast carries some uncertainty. Every weather briefing, from any provider, also has the same built-in limit. It describes one departure time, one route, one altitude and one arrival time. Real flights change. You leave late, get rerouted, or get assigned a different altitude, and each change puts you in weather the briefing didn't look at. That's why PlaneWX can keep updating your briefing for monitored flights as the forecast changes, and why your decision-making continues in the air.

How can I make my briefing more accurate?

Enter the flight the way you'll really fly it: a realistic departure time, the route you expect to file or be cleared, your planned altitude, and the right aircraft profile. If any of those change, update the trip and brief again. Check again close to departure, when the forecasts are freshest.

Yes, in specific places. Weather reports, forecasts, model data and NOTAMs are fetched and decoded by code. AI reads forecaster discussions and writes the plain-language briefing, the hazard summary and most section ratings. It also proposes a starting WX Score and some deductions, such as for convection. Ceiling and visibility are always scored by code. Within 12 hours of departure, your personal minimums and aircraft limits are checked by rule-based code, not the AI. Further out, AI also helps weigh icing and turbulence against your limits. You always make the final call.

What is the WX Score?

The WX Score is a 0-100% metric calculated against YOUR personal minimums and your specific aircraft, not generic VFR/IFR categories. It tells you, in a single number, how well conditions are expected to match your standards. Every deduction is transparent and explained.

What is the PAVE framework?

PAVE is the FAA risk framework: Pilot, Aircraft, enVironment, and External pressures. It is the structure behind a serious preflight risk assessment, not a weather product by itself. We walk through it in plain language in our PAVE risk assessment guide. PlaneWX FRAT uses that same framework as a living sit-down assessment near departure. See how PlaneWX FRAT works, including how the briefing and airport context feed the enVironment side.

How far in advance can PlaneWX forecast weather?

PlaneWX provides weather intelligence from 14 days out through departure. Confidence improves as your flight approaches. We are transparent about uncertainty at every time horizon.

What is the mentor system?

PlaneWX connects you with experienced pilots who can review your full briefing (WX Score, aircraft profile, personal minimums) and offer a second set of eyes grounded in shared data, not guesswork. Mentor sits alongside the risk-management loop when you want it.

Is there a free plan?

Yes. Free forever includes full-quality briefings. We limit how much you can use PlaneWX, not how good the analysis is. Details on plans and what each tier includes are in PlaneWX Plans help.

What's the difference between Casual, Pro, and Pro Plus?

Casual is for pilots who fly a few times a month and want auto-monitoring. Pro raises limits and automation. Pro Plus adds Ground Protection, Auto-Brief, Pre-Flight Text, briefed fuel stops, and Labs. Compare current limits and features in Plans help, or start from the pricing section on this page. Personal minimums still drive the WX Score on every plan. If you are setting those for the first time, see personal minimums for weather planning.

What happens after the 14-day free trial?

You keep access on Free, or choose Casual, Pro, or Pro Plus. No card is required to start the trial. Plan details stay in Plans help.

Weather ProductsLast reviewed 2026-09-25

TAF vs MOS, LAMP and NBM

TAFs are the official NWS terminal forecast. This article compares them with MOS, LAMP and NBM guidance, and explains why many small airports never get a forecaster-written TAF.

What a TAF is and what it covers

A Terminal Aerodrome Forecast (TAF) is the official NWS terminal forecast for an airport. Weather Forecast Office (WFO) forecasters prepare and monitor TAFs using professional judgment in AvnFPS. An NDFD formatter may build a first-guess TAF that forecasters should edit.

For a group-by-group decode of a TAF, see What Is a TAF? How to Read a Terminal Aerodrome Forecast.

Coverage is the area within 5 statute miles of the center of the runway complex. Vicinity (VC) means 5 to 10 SM. Elements include surface wind, visibility, weather, obstructions to vision, clouds or vertical visibility, non-convective low-level wind shear, and significant changes.

The valid period is ordinarily 24 hours. FAA-specified international airports get 30-hour TAFs. TAFs are scheduled four times daily, every six hours, with amendments as needed. FAA Core 30 airports get scheduled amendments every 3 hours. TEMPO groups do not exceed 4 hours. PROB groups are 6 hours or less. Formats include TAC and IWXXM.

According to the Aviation Weather Center, TAFs are issued for nearly 700 U.S. airports, typically 20 to 40 minutes before the valid time. The airport network changes over time through NWS service change notices.

MOS, LAMP and NBM: guidance, not the official TAF

MOS, LAMP and NBM are forecast guidance that forecasters use as input. The TAF remains the official NWS terminal forecast. PlaneWX complements FAA and Flight Service weather products. PlaneWX is decision support. It is not a substitute for your full preflight briefing (for example a standard briefing through Flight Service or your EFB).

MOS (Model Output Statistics)

MOS is made by NOAA's Meteorological Development Laboratory (MDL). It is statistical post-processing that uses multiple linear regression. Predictors are numerical model output, prior observations and geoclimatic data. It runs on the GFS and the NAM.

GFS MOS coverage includes CONUS, Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands and some Pacific islands.

MAV (short-range GFS MOS): runs 00, 06, 12 and 18 UTC, 6 to 72 hours, over 1500 stations. Includes ceiling (CIG), visibility (VIS) and obstruction to vision (OBV).
MEX (extended-range GFS MOS): runs 00 and 12 UTC, 24 to 192 hours, over 1600 stations. The MEX card shows no ceiling or visibility elements.
MET (NAM MOS): runs 00 and 12 UTC, 6 to 72 hours, same element set as MAV including CIG, VIS and OBV. NAM MOS is scheduled to end along with the NAM on October 14, 2026 at 1200 UTC (NWS SCN 26-47).

LAMP (Localized Aviation MOS Program)

LAMP is made by MDL. It is a statistical system that updates MOS every hour, with ceiling and visibility every 15 minutes, using recent observations, analyses, simple models, and MOS from models such as GFS and HRRR. It covers over 2000 stations.

The standard range is 1 to 25 hours. It extends to 38 hours for key elements including temperature, dewpoint, wind, gusts, ceiling, visibility and obstruction to vision. Elements include ceiling, conditional ceiling, visibility, conditional visibility, obstruction to vision, lightning and convection.

LAMP v2.7, implemented September 16, 2025 (NWS SCN 25-62), added flight-category bulletins for 1,818 CONUS stations: 15-minute periods out to 6 hours, and hourly out to 38 hours. Gridded LAMP (GLMP) is hourly, with ceiling and visibility every 15 minutes, on a 2.5 km grid. The LAMP FAQ defines VLIFR, LIFR, IFR, MVFR and VFR thresholds.

NBM (National Blend of Models)

NBM is a nationally consistent and skillful suite of calibrated forecast guidance that blends NWS and non-NWS model data and post-processed guidance. It serves as a starting point for the NDFD grids forecasters edit.

NBM v5.0 became operational April 30, 2026 (NWS SCN 26-24). It runs every hour, with output out to 264 hours. Text bulletins cover over 9,000 land and marine stations: NBH hourly 1 to 25 hours, NBS 3-hourly 6 to 72 hours, NBE 12-hourly 24 to 192 hours, NBX 12-hourly 204 to 264 hours.

NBH includes ceiling, visibility, lowest cloud base, and MVFR, IFR and LIFR ceiling and visibility probabilities. NBS includes ceiling, visibility and lowest cloud base. NBE has no ceiling or visibility.

How they compare

TAFs cover about 700 airports. MOS covers about 2,000 stations. LAMP covers over 2,000. NBM covers over 9,000. At many small airports, pilots see only automated guidance, never a forecaster-written TAF.

TAF: Who makes it: NWS WFO forecasters (AvnFPS, professional judgment). How: official terminal forecast. Run times: scheduled 4x daily (every 6 hours), amendments as needed; Core 30 get scheduled amendments every 3 hours. Range: ordinarily 24 hr (30 hr at FAA-specified international airports). Ceiling and visibility: included. Stations: nearly 700 U.S. airports. Official or guidance: official.
MOS: Who makes it: MDL. How: statistical post-processing (multiple linear regression) on GFS and NAM. Run times: MAV 00/06/12/18 UTC; MEX and MET 00/12 UTC. Range: MAV 6 to 72 hr; MEX 24 to 192 hr; MET 6 to 72 hr (NAM MOS scheduled to end Oct 14, 2026 at 1200 UTC). Ceiling and visibility: MAV and MET include CIG, VIS, OBV; MEX card shows no ceiling or visibility. Stations: MAV over 1500; MEX over 1600. Official or guidance: guidance.
LAMP: Who makes it: MDL. How: statistical system that updates MOS every hour (ceiling and visibility every 15 minutes). Run times: hourly updates. Range: 1 to 25 hr standard; extends to 38 hr for key elements. Ceiling and visibility: yes (plus conditional ceiling/visibility, obstruction, lightning, convection). Stations: over 2000. Official or guidance: guidance.
NBM: Who makes it: MDL. How: nationally consistent and skillful suite of calibrated forecast guidance; starting point for NDFD grids. Run times: every hour. Range: out to 264 hr (NBH 1 to 25 hr; NBS 6 to 72 hr; NBE 24 to 192 hr; NBX 204 to 264 hr). Ceiling and visibility: NBH and NBS yes; NBE no. Stations: over 9,000 land and marine. Official or guidance: guidance.

Putting it into practice

Why it matters

Without a dispatcher, you have to know whether you are reading an official forecaster TAF or automated guidance. That matters most at airports with no TAF, where MOS, LAMP or NBM may be what you have. Knowing which product you are looking at keeps the go/⁠no‑go call grounded in what the product actually is.

Decision loop

1Weather Briefing
2FRAT
3GO / NO-GO
4Self Debrief

Mentor is an optional layer on any step, not a fifth stage.

Tool or habit

PlaneWX Weather Briefing and WX Score weigh forecast conditions against your own personal minimums. PlaneWX never recommends go or no-go. You make the GO / NO‑GO call.

Sources

PlaneWX complements FAA and Flight Service weather products. PlaneWX is decision support. It is not a substitute for your full preflight briefing (for example a standard briefing through Flight Service or your EFB).