The big picture: For Flight Simulator, Meteoblue divided the globe up into 250 million individual boxes with 60 vertical layers. The weather exhibited in each box is representative of what is happening in real time in that section of the planet, complete with information like temperature, wind speed, pressure, humidity, rain, snow and so on.
One of the standout features of Microsoft Flight Simulator is the ability to experience weather patterns as they are happening in the real world. It just so happens that Hurricane Laura, the biggest weather event to take place since the game's August 18 launch, is currently advancing inland and players are tracking its progress in the game.
YouTuber MajinBanu is one of several gamers that took the opportunity to investigate the in-game storm and share the findings on social media. As you can see from the various clips and screenshots, the in-game version of Hurricane Laura is no joke.
Microsoft partnered with meteorological service Meteoblue for the real-time weather in Flight Simulator. Founded in 2006 as a two-person startup, the company now serves clients in more than 50 countries. Initially, weather data was only going to be supplied around airports but the team ultimately decided to make it global.
Mathias Müller, co-founder of Meteoblue, told The Verge via email that the hurricane was "very beautiful to look at and was accurately predicted by our models even days ahead."