What This Site Does
BadWx FS Route Finder helps flight simulator pilots find airline routes that currently have challenging real-world weather.
Instead of choosing a random route and hoping for bad weather, the site scans current METAR and forecast TAF conditions and highlights flights where weather is likely to make the approach or arrival interesting.
This is ideal if you want:
- Realistic IFR conditions
- Low visibility or low ceilings
- Strong winds or gusts
- Weather-driven decision making (diversions, alternates, unstable approaches)
The site assumes departure now (with a ~40 minute delay) and evaluates weather around your estimated arrival time.
What You See on the Page
Challenging Routes Table
If conditions exist, you'll see a table of routes. If not, the site will say that no challenging routes are currently detected.
Each row represents a possible flight. Columns explained:
- From / To — ICAO airport codes (e.g., YSSY → YMML). Click to view airport info and historical weather stats.
- Severity — A 1-10 score indicating how objectively challenging the weather is. This is calculated from a fixed formula: base score of 5, plus 2 points per "hard" condition (Low Vis, Strong Wind, Gusts, Low Ceiling, FZRA, FZDZ, Icing), plus 1 point per "soft" condition (marginal ceiling). Maximum 10. Note: Severity is intentionally independent of your personal threshold settings—it reflects actual weather danger, not your minimums.
- Distance (NM) — Great-circle distance in nautical miles.
- ETA (hrs) — Estimated flight time. Includes wind correction (head/tailwind from surface winds extrapolated to cruise altitude) and climb/descent buffer (+11-25 min depending on distance). The ±Xm uncertainty accounts for wind variability. Aircraft speeds are TAS (True Airspeed).
- ETA UTC / Local — When you would arrive if you departed now. Sun/moon icon shows day/night at destination.
- Confidence — How confident the system is that adverse weather will affect your arrival window (0-100%).
- Dep WX / Arr WX — Weather condition icons. Click any icon for detailed briefing info.
- Arr Window — TAF forecast period with adverse conditions near your arrival.
- WX — View raw METAR/TAF text data.
- Plan — Open route in SimBrief with aircraft and departure time pre-filled.
- Share — Copy a link to share this specific route.
Features
🎲 Fly Now Button
Click "Fly Now!" to randomly pick a challenging route (weighted toward nastier weather) and auto-open SimBrief.
✈️ Aircraft Profile Selector
Choose from 11 aircraft profiles including airliners (A320, A321, A330, A350, B737, B747, B757, B777) and regional aircraft (CRJ, E190, ATR72). Speeds shown are TAS (True Airspeed); the system estimates ground speed by applying wind corrections from destination weather. Flight times include climb/descent buffer (+11-25 min depending on distance).
🔄 Sortable Columns
Click any column header to sort. Click again to reverse. Default sorts by Severity (nastiest first).
📊 Airport Weather History
Click airport codes to see 30-day weather statistics and historical weather patterns.
Weather Logic
BadWx flags routes based on combinations of:
- Reduced visibility (below threshold)
- Low cloud ceilings (BKN/OVC below threshold)
- Strong winds or gusts (above threshold)
- Significant weather phenomena
Hard conditions (high severity):
- FG (Fog), TS (Thunderstorms), SN (Snow — ignored by default for sim realism)
- Very low visibility, very low ceilings
Soft conditions (moderate):
- BR (Mist), HZ (Haze), RA (Rain)
- Marginal ceilings, moderate winds
Confidence score combines: how centrally your ETA falls in the adverse TAF window, condition severity, and forecast recency.
Full Settings
Expand ⚙️ Full Settings to control what counts as "bad weather":
Weather Thresholds
Note: Thresholds use OR logic — a route is flagged if any single condition is exceeded.
- Visibility Threshold (SM) — Routes with visibility below this value may be flagged (default 1.0 SM, LIFR visibility).
- Wind Speed Threshold (kt) — Sustained wind above this triggers difficulty.
- Gust Speed Threshold (kt) — Gusts above this trigger difficulty.
- Ceiling Threshold (ft) — Cloud base (BKN/OVC) below this is flagged as "Low Ceiling" (default 700 ft).
Route Settings
- Departure Delay (min) — How long until you actually depart (0-120 min). Default is 40 minutes to allow for taxi, startup, etc.
- Confidence Threshold (%) — Only show routes where the system is at least this confident weather will affect your arrival (0-100%).
Aircraft Performance
- Custom Cruise Speed (kt TAS) — Override the default cruise True Airspeed for ETA calculations. The system estimates ground speed by applying wind corrections. Leave empty to use the selected profile's speed.
- Custom Max Range (NM) — Override the maximum range filter. Useful for heavily loaded or light aircraft configurations.
Forecast Options
- Ignore TEMPO Conditions — If enabled, temporary weather fluctuations (TEMPO) in TAF forecasts are ignored. Only persistent conditions (BECMG, FM) count.
Settings are currently fixed to provide a consistent experience for all users.
Typical Workflow
- Open the site
- Check the Challenging Routes table
- If nothing appears, adjust thresholds in Full Settings
- Pick a route with high severity/confidence, or click Fly Now!
- Click the ✈️ Plan button to open SimBrief
- Fly it in your simulator using live weather
When Nothing Shows Up
That's normal. It means:
- Weather is currently benign at monitored airports, or
- Your thresholds are too strict
Either relax the settings or check again later. Weather changes frequently!
What This Is Not
- It does not plan fuel or generate flight plans
- It does not simulate weather
- It does not guarantee difficulty
Best Use Case Summary
BadWx FS Route Finder is a weather-first flight discovery tool.
Use it when you want:
- Real-world challenge in your sim
- No scripting or fake scenarios
- Flights driven by actual meteorology
- A reason to brief alternates seriously