How does weather work in Microsoft Flight Simulator?
Microsoft Flight Simulator offers Live Weather, built-in presets and manually customised conditions. Live Weather streams modelled real-world data; presets create repeatable scenarios. In Free Flight, open the weather or flight-conditions panel, choose Live Weather or a preset, then set the clock separately if you also want the real local time.
How Microsoft Flight Simulator weather works
The weather engine turns either online atmospheric data or a chosen preset into clouds, precipitation, wind, pressure, temperature, visibility and associated effects such as turbulence and icing. Terrain, altitude and assistance settings can change how strongly those conditions affect the aircraft.
| Weather mode | What it does | Best used for |
|---|---|---|
| Live Weather | Downloads modelled real-world conditions and updates them during the session. | Flying a route in conditions broadly matching the real world. |
| Preset | Loads a predefined scenario without following real-world updates. | Training, screenshots and repeatable flights. |
| Custom weather | Lets you adjust the preset's available cloud, wind and atmospheric controls. | Practising a specific crosswind, ceiling or visibility. |
Live Weather and live time are separate choices. Selecting real-world weather does not always move the simulator clock to the real local date and time, so check both controls before starting the flight.
How do you turn on Live Weather?
Select Live Weather from the weather or flight-conditions controls before launching a Free Flight session.
- Open Free Flight. Choose the aircraft, departure airport and route as usual.
- Open the weather controls. Depending on the simulator version and platform, this may be labelled Weather or Flight Conditions, or represented by a weather icon.
- Select Live Weather. Do not subsequently alter manual cloud or wind controls, as doing so can change the session back to custom weather.
- Set the time separately. Select live time as well if the flight should use the real local clock rather than a chosen time of day.
- Check online data. Live Weather requires the simulator's online functionality and weather data services to be enabled.
- Start the flight. Conditions can continue updating as new data is received.
The menu layout differs between Microsoft Flight Simulator 2020 and Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024, and between mouse and controller interfaces, but the choice between live and preset weather is fundamentally the same.
How do you set a weather preset?
Choose a built-in preset from the same weather panel, then customise it if the selected mode exposes manual controls.
- Select a starting preset. Pick the closest match to the conditions required, such as clear weather, low cloud or storms.
- Adjust the atmosphere. Available controls can include cloud layers, precipitation, wind layers, temperature, pressure and visibility-related settings.
- Build wind layers carefully. Check each layer's altitude, direction and speed; a common mistake is creating the intended crosswind at altitude but not near the runway.
- Review temperature and pressure. Extreme values can create icing, density-altitude or altimeter effects that may be mistaken for an aircraft problem.
- Keep the scenario repeatable. Leave Live Weather off when consistent conditions are needed for landing practice or aircraft comparisons.
PC users wanting more ready-made scenarios can add extra repeatable fog, snow, thunderstorm and gust presets rather than constructing every situation manually.
Can you change weather during a flight?
Yes, Free Flight normally allows weather changes through the in-flight weather panel when that panel is available. Switching from live conditions to a preset stops the session from following the online weather feed; selecting Live Weather again reconnects it.
Career missions, challenges and some other structured activities can lock the weather to preserve their objectives. Multiplayer choices can also restrict weather or require common live conditions, so consult our explanation of how shared sessions, player modes and conditions interact if the control is unavailable online.
Why does Live Weather not match the real conditions?
Live Weather is a modelled representation of the atmosphere, not a guaranteed copy of one airport observation at that exact minute.
- Forecast and observation differences: The weather system blends data across a wide area rather than displaying only a single airport report.
- Update delay: The simulator, weather service and real airport observations may refresh at different times.
- Interpolation: Wind, cloud and temperature are calculated between available data points, so local conditions can differ.
- Time mismatch: Live Weather paired with a manually selected time can produce lighting that does not match the real scene.
- Stale or disabled online data: A lost connection or an old session can leave clear skies, unchanged weather or conditions from the wrong time.
If Live Weather is missing altogether, first confirm online data is enabled, select Live Weather before loading the flight and start a fresh simulator session. Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 users can follow our focused Live Weather connection and session troubleshooting checklist for the remaining failure modes.