# How to better plan for weather?

**URL:** <https://forum.navigraph.com/t/how-to-better-plan-for-weather/24393>\
**Category:** Dispatch\
**Created:** [September 29, 2026, 7:27pm UTC](https://forum.navigraph.com/t/how-to-better-plan-for-weather/24393 "2026-09-29T19:27:01Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![jt2334](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/7bcc69/32.png) [@jt2334](https://forum.navigraph.com/u/jt2334)\
**Post date:** [September 29, 2026, 7:27pm UTC](https://forum.navigraph.com/t/how-to-better-plan-for-weather/24393/1 "2026-09-29T19:27:02Z")

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Hello, so I have been a simmer since the days of FS 98 but only really getting into the complex stuff with the release of the Level D 767 in the late 00’s or early 10’s. And while I have learned a lot in that time, there are lots of things I really don’t know much about. In this instance, mainly relating to planning around weather and such. For example, today I planned a flight from PHNL to NTAA (near Tahiti). I am aware there is a hurricane or TS near Hawaii currently, so I had a look at the significant WX chart and manually routed the flight plan to avoid any storms/icing. Also looking at the winds the sim was showing for the airport, everything seemed normal but just after takeoff, I encountered some strong crosswinds, which caused the plane to overbank during a turn even with the AP engaged and in LNAV mode. Also, upon reaching my initial cruising altitude, I was encountering strong turbulence and had to descend to 35,000 to find more stable air, although it wasn’t perfect but much better. Usually on most flights I don’t run into issues with weather, and I know the basics of how to read a SigWX chart and what the symbols mean. I don’t always know when to avoid certain weather like when winds might be too strong for a given route, or how to know what the best altitudes are for getting a smoother ride. Like I said, I thought I was doing everything correctly and specifically edited my route according to the WX chart to avoid flying through any CB or icing and stuff like that but still encountered a rough ride.

So are there any guides that explain in depth on how to interpret the weather when planning a flight and knowing what stuff to avoid, or finding out what the wind or turbulence is like at a given altitude?

Thanks

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**Author:** ![GordonNG](https://dub1.discourse-cdn.com/flex013/user_avatar/forum.navigraph.com/gordonng/32/27797_2.png) [@GordonNG](https://forum.navigraph.com/u/GordonNG)\
**Post date:** [September 30, 2026, 8:33am UTC](https://forum.navigraph.com/t/how-to-better-plan-for-weather/24393/2 "2026-09-30T08:33:29Z")

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Hello,

So I think you are asking several things.

1. Overbanking in LNAV after takeoff

2. Turbulence at cruise level and choosing a smoother flight level.

There is a lot of real world material available, the FAA’s Aviation Weather Handbook is amazing and is free on the FAA website. It covers pretty much all we discussed and more.

[https://www.faa.gov/regulationspolicies/handbooksmanuals/aviation/faa-h-8083-28b-aviation-weather-handbook](https://www.faa.gov/regulationspolicies/handbooksmanuals/aviation/faa-h-8083-28b-aviation-weather-handbook)

Hope that helped!

Regards!

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**Author:** ![system](https://europe1.discourse-cdn.com/flex013/uploads/navigraph1/original/1X/4cc83e90d70ab312b1bd2d7527bddad309607265.png) [@system](https://forum.navigraph.com/u/system)\
**Post date:** [October 13, 2026, 9:01am UTC](https://forum.navigraph.com/t/how-to-better-plan-for-weather/24393/3 "2026-10-13T09:01:34Z")

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Closed on October 13, 2026, 9:01am UTC

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