There’s a good (long) discussion here. The answer seems to be mostly technical at this point, but possibly also legal (adjusting the SDK and contractual details with Meteoblue). It’s not any one simple answer.
Thanks for the link; that thread also included the original answer; posted by gweilo888 previously:
Thank you for posting this!! I had not seen this and this basically answers what I’ve been wondering.
Appreciate you!
If they can’t implement a proper radar due to legal issues, it would be nice if the SDK could be opened to allow for weather injection like is possible in other sims. Having active sky for msfs would obviate the need for MS to implement their own weather radar SDK.
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Well, of course it’s also “technical”, if the current Asobo deal with MeteoBlue doesn’t allow sharing the data, most definitely there isn’t an API in place to use that data.
Spoken like someone without a lot of legal experience in technical fields. 
You might be surprised how often data providers have existing APIs that customers are not allowed to use due to compatibility and contractual reasons, not just one or the other.
The point is, it sounds very much like there’s a combination of issues involved here, both technical AND contractual, if you read all the statements from MS/Asobo, the folks at Working Title, and the various 3rd party aircraft developers together in context with one another.
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We are talking about an Asobo API to 3rd parties. Meteoblue sure has an existing API to tap into their data for the customers.
Those are indelibly intertwined here, especially if (as seems likely) third parties want access to the raw weather data directly, or effectively as a pass-through. In which case, it’s a matter of negotiating with MeteoBlue to provde access to the API to third parties under sublicense.
I don’t understand why they need to talk to MB - sounds like an excuse.
I am sure MB doesn’t provide the data where each cloud is at - which is what the radar needs.
MB provides an area in which there x coverage between w and y height of type z and perspiration n.
With that, Asobo generates and draw the clouds, and they have that data which is not MB’s.
How about e.g. with rain without ground fog?? It would be a start after 2.5 years to improve it.
You really don’t get it? The weather DATA comes from MB. Asobo takes the data and uses certain parameters from that data to be used in their engine. Also, I’m pretty sure the way the data has been tailored and scraped is SPECIFICALLY for Asobo. I don’t know the details of their contract. But, we do know that MB expects their data to be used only for and by Asobo (for the time being). Just because they paid for access doesn’t mean they can just loan it out/give to whomever they want, it’s still MB’s property. That would be like if I borrowed a friends car and then started letting other people drive it, my friend would be ■■■■■■. Let’s say some idiot gets into an accident, yeah, I would be responsible.
Any other developer could have just gone and used NOAA like every other previous FS weather product, Asobo didn’t. The price for this more intricate data set is exclusivity and a legal contract. Break it, there’s penalties and you’re back to the drawing board. How do you find that as an excuse? Please tell me that you’re like 15 and MSFS is your first FS experience, because otherwise, I don’t know how you don’t know this.
Is not the real issue that some more advanced Dev want 3D weather data for their realistic system simulation, and currently, Asobo only makes a 2D bitmap of weather available in the SDK ?
Maybe, something some other weather service may be a possibility ?
For Example:
no. No other data provider (and not even Meteoblue) can provide the data needed. A radar that complicated needs the 3D information of the weather generated within the MSFS engine (based on various data sources like Meteoblue, metar injection etc).
It doesn’t matter that it’s raining in a certain area according to whatever weather provider’s data. It only matters where it’s raining within the sim. Otherwise we would soon have countless of people complaining that the radar was showing rain, but the sim didn’t show rain.
The 3D weather in the sim is simply not available in an API (which would have to be coded/built by Asobo, because it would need data from within Asobo’s weather engine).
Why they didn’t make this new API, we don’t know. Might be due to licencing, might be a simple cost/benefit issue, or them simply having other priorities currently.
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Because Asobo needs permission from MB to have API access either into or out of the sim if it’s ANYTHING weather related. Since their turbulence feature is all in sim and in house, they don’t need permission for that. But for anyone else wanting to affect or utilize weather into or out of the sim through an API, MB needs to approve.
Really wish they would get on this, this is super critical for real life flying
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Absolutely. Especially if, let’s say, you’re flying an A320 in the Tropics or other regions prone to storms, you’re going to need to have a weather radar handy. Imagine if you’re flying into such a region without a weather radar that works properly. Hopefully, Asobo and MB will come to a solution, because this has dragged on for too long, and some are still even holding on to P3D with AS as a result.
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Weather radar is a “no go” item… You can’t operate a large aircraft without a weather radar… A working weather radar should Asobo’s priority…
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Agreed, very frustrating having nothing on the wxr radar, using 3rd party prosim 737
I feel So Down there is no Proper Weather Radar in MSFS it supposed to be better than FSX. Ok it is But OMG Weather Radar is surely is one of the Top Items that should be Included They Need to sort out the Data for developers to include weather Radar. OMG OMG I dream at Night about a Proper Working Weather radar. ‘Speedbird 265 can we get a 10 Mile Deviation due to weather’ My Whole Life will Be complete when I say that on Vatsim Who Needs a Woman When u have Weather Radar! Or man Maybe: p
Per today’s dev stream, Jorg commented on this today. Said they’re aware it’s a priority from the community and they’re still looking into it.
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