Sim now seems incapable of rendering overcast consistently or accurately using live weather

QED:

I don’t know if it is fair, as these are fairly small airfields, and I have seen indeed some near overcast recently, however:

After more than one year since SU7 reports in this thread and in METAR keeps disrupting the weather/ bugged weather/Cumulus/CB clouds only/no medium to high cloud coverage have established that Live weather has gained (some) accuracy, but at the cost of

  • being entirely cumulus centric
  • a generic look, at first glance identifiable as a gaming environment
  • consisting mostly of one single cloud layer, perhaps added by some high “fluffs”
  • missing or not convincing high overcast
  • producing clouds with seemingly lower density than presets
  • lost variety in cloud depiction
  • no plausible storm depiction, including thunder and lightning
  • less convincing low overcast
  • less convincing convective cloudscapes
  • discernable METAR areas

If these observations are to be considered a bug is irrelevant.
They are shortcomings in a system that has proven to be more capable.

As flying happens in the atmosphere, a prerequisite for any serious flight simulator is getting atmospheric conditions right. Placing cloudpuffs at the reported altitude is simply not enough.

After SIM, WORLD and AIRCRAFT updates I think it is time to concentrate on the atmospheric simulation and improve it with a WAU (Weather and Atmosphere Update) . Throw in cirrus clouds, aerosol density, seasons and accurate snow coverage while you’re at it! (don’t get me started on the weather radar thingy…)

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