See all nine built-in MSFS 2024 weather presets, how to select and customise them, plus fixes for locked or ineffective weather controls.
Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 includes nine built-in weather presets: Clear Skies, Few Clouds, Scattered Clouds, Broken Clouds, High Level Clouds, Overcast, Rain, Snow and Storm. In Free Flight, open the weather or conditions panel, replace Live or Typical Weather with a named preset, then adjust its cloud, wind, visibility and precipitation controls if needed.
Which weather presets are included in MSFS 2024?
The stock library provides nine reusable templates, ranging from clear visual conditions to snow and convective weather.
| Preset | Starting conditions | Useful for |
|---|---|---|
| Clear Skies | No significant cloud deck | Sightseeing, visual navigation and basic handling |
| Few Clouds | Light, isolated cloud cover | VFR flying with some cloud reference |
| Scattered Clouds | Patchier, more widespread clouds | VFR routes and varied lighting |
| Broken Clouds | Extensive coverage with visible gaps | Marginal conditions and cloud avoidance |
| High Level Clouds | An upper-level cloud layer with clearer air below | Airliner flights and high-altitude atmosphere |
| Overcast | A largely continuous cloud deck | Instrument approaches and low-cloud practice |
| Rain | Cloud, precipitation and reduced-visibility settings | Wet-weather take-offs and approaches |
| Snow | Wintry precipitation and cold-weather settings | Winter operations and reduced-visibility flying |
| Storm | Convective cloud, heavier precipitation and stronger atmospheric effects | Thunderstorm avoidance and demanding approaches |
These are fixed templates rather than real-world observations. Their aviation-style names do not guarantee a particular METAR at every airport, and they do not generate moving fronts or download updated conditions. For fog, start with Overcast and reduce the visibility and cloud-base settings.
How do I select a weather preset?
- Start an ordinary Free Flight. Career missions, challenges and some online activities control the weather for you.
- Open the weather or conditions panel. Its exact position can change with interface updates, but it is available from the pre-flight planning screen.
- Change the weather source. If Live or Typical Weather is selected, open that selector and choose one of the named presets instead.
- Choose the preset. Its cloud, wind, visibility and precipitation values are applied as a complete starting setup.
- Set the clock separately. Weather does not automatically create the desired daylight or season, so use the separate time-and-date controls when recreating a winter flight, sunset approach or historical scenario.
- Load the flight. In unrestricted Free Flight, the weather panel can usually be reopened in the air for further changes.
Should I use Preset, Typical or Live Weather?
- Preset: choose this for repeatable conditions, training or screenshots. Every attempt can begin with the same basic atmosphere.
- Custom: use this when you need a precise cloud base, crosswind, visibility, temperature or precipitation intensity. Editing a built-in preset effectively turns it into a custom setup.
- Typical Weather: choose this for plausible conditions suited to the place and period without reproducing the real weather report.
- Live Weather: choose this when you want the simulator's online weather model rather than repeatable conditions.
Our comparison of generated Typical conditions and online Live Weather explains when those two modes are preferable to fixed presets.
Can I customise or install more weather presets?
Every built-in preset is an editable starting point. Depending on the available controls, you can alter cloud layers and coverage, wind direction and speed, gusts, visibility, precipitation, temperature, pressure and surface snow. The original stock preset remains available when you want to reset the conditions.
PC users can also install compatible weather packages through the Community folder. Our downloadable preset-pack example with fog, gust, snow and storm scenarios shows what an expansion can add; check its compatibility and installation notes before using it with MSFS 2024. A package made for MSFS 2020 is not automatically guaranteed to work in 2024.
Xbox and PlayStation users cannot sideload ordinary PC Community-folder files. Extra presets on those platforms must be supplied through a supported in-simulator distribution method.
Why are weather presets missing, locked or ineffective?
- The controls are greyed out: the activity or online session probably enforces its own weather. Return to regular Free Flight or leave the session imposing shared conditions.
- Custom changes keep disappearing: confirm that the source is Preset or Custom rather than Live Weather, which replaces manual values with online data.
- Snow is falling but the ground is bare: falling precipitation and surface snow depth are separate settings. Temperature and date also affect how convincing the winter scene appears.
- An added preset is absent: confirm that it supports MSFS 2024, is installed in the active Community folder and is not buried inside an extra nested folder. Restart the simulator after correcting the package structure.
- The weather radar shows nothing: radar normally displays precipitation returns, not every visible cloud. Aircraft capability, radar tilt and precipitation intensity all matter; our MSFS 2024 weather-radar operating guide covers those checks.