What are you lookign at to see what the cloud layers are like on your XM?
I've played around with my 496, and what it's showing me is great...but I
can't visualize what you're looking at to make your decisions.

This is something I'm interested in, since I'm planning a multi-day VFR
trip
bringing the Zodiac home. (And yes, I'm planning to sop in Iowa City.)

You're gonna "sop" here, eh? I'd better get better beer!

;-)

Anyway, being VFR, what we watch specifically is ceilings and visibility
trends along the route of flight. Most states have enough AWOS reporting
stations (that appear as little triangles on the 496) that you can literally
run your cursor over each airport and graphically see ceiling and visibility
reports underneath the "live" (okay, slightly old) weather radar, painted
under the satellite photo.

It's an incredibly powerful tool. If you see an area that (for example) has
marginal VFR -- but good VFR under clear skies beyond -- you know it is safe
to proceed. In the "pre-XM" days, if we ran into a localized area of
marginal VFR we had no idea if conditions were trending worse (or better)
ahead, and would often do a precautionary -- and needless -- landing to
"wait it out".

With weather, a "picture really is worth a thousand words", and it's made
cross-country flying much safer and more relaxing.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"