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I'd like to add some observations to the XM discussion. Everyone who has used XM weather, or other services that are nearly the same, realizes that the updates aren't exactly real time. They are updated every 5 to 10 minutes, and are very good trend indicators, but they are not meant to be used for real time trying to miss the heavy cells. This is what airborne radar is for. I've used both the XM and real time weather radar at the same time, and believe me it's vastly different most of the time when you are on a small scale. It's close some of the time, but don't get sucked into the false sense of security of thinking you are seeing real time weather because you are not. All US ARTCC's now have color nexrad displayed on the radar scope. Please be warned though, that display is also NOT real time. The updates for our ATC nexrad display is updated about the same as the XM weather, and in most cases actually slower. We get a new update between 5-15 minutes, so if you ask the controller for a vector around the weather and he sends you through some heavy precip, don't blame him/her because we can only use what we see. It's not perfect, but it's a thousand percent better than we had a couple years ago. If you know a storm is moving East, and you are being vectored around the West side, then you have a pretty good chance you are being given a good margin of safety. If you are being vectored around the East side, you better ask for more room. We as air traffic controllers are there to offer our services to you for traffic advisories, weather, MOA activity, TFR's, or just a friendly voice(in most cases)to keep you company. Use everything in your power to make your flight a safer one. Use XM weather, use a storm scope, get flight following from the ARTCC, and do what ever you can to stay away from thunderstorms. Ron Galbraith
ATC, ATP, MCFI
LNCE-N5ES flying soon to an airport near you.
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