Cobra wrote:
FWIW, I have other (non-aviation) weather apps on my phone that include similar arrows, but in my experience when you watch the radar loop and compare where the weather actually went vs. where the arrows said the weather was going, the arrows are very often wrong.
That said, I don't know where the arrows come from, so I don't know if different apps might show different arrows and maybe some apps could have better arrows than others.
At any rate, I've learned/been trained not to give much credence to those arrows in the non-aviation wx app I most frequently use. I would prefer not to have stuff like that in iFly if it's not reliable. Like Mike, I find the radar loop function to give me the info I need to make educated guesses about how things are developing.
I don't really trust the arrows much, either--although I often consult that app (Garmin Pilot) when running any distance from the house and have found it quite helpful. Yesterday afternoon, for example, there were thunderstorms all over the place, but I was able to trot about five miles without getting wet by watching that display in animation. The arrows coincided pretty well with what the storm was doing in the animation and also in real life, out in the open where I could watch it directly. I ran across a lift bridge that, with its approaches, is about a mile long, with nothing to obstruct my view. But in any case, alla that digital stuff is helpful but not sufficient. I trust my own eyes better.