aiv10.my — drone flying weather, rules and no-fly zones for Malaysia

Guide — flying drones in Malaysia with aiv10.my

Everything a Malaysian drone owner needs to read weather right, use every page here, and know what's left to check elsewhere. Legal permits live on the Rules page — this guide is the practical, flying-conditions half.

Getting started in under a minute

  1. Set your drone class top-right (Micro/Standard/Enterprise) — every score on every page recalculates around this, so get it right first.
  2. On the Home page, search a place or tap Use my location.
  3. Read the verdict badge — GO, CAUTION, or NO-GO — and the reason chips under it.
  4. Scroll the 48-hour timeline to find your window, or open Planner if you're scheduling a job days ahead.

Understanding your verdict

Every verdict is GO, CAUTION, or NO-GO — built from eight factors, gated by whichever is worst for your drone class. One bad factor caps the whole hour; good factors never average it back up.

Wind thresholds by drone class

ClassComfortHard ceiling
Micro (<250g)7.0 m/s comfort10.7 m/s max
Standard8.0 m/s comfort12.0 m/s max
Enterprise10.0 m/s comfort15.0 m/s max

Why gusts gate the score

Sustained wind is what surface stations report, but gusts are what actually destabilizes a hovering drone — a calm-looking average can still gust well past a Micro-class limit. Gusts are checked as a hard gate, not averaged in.

Wind direction & altitude profile

The Now card shows wind direction as a compass letter (e.g. "NE") — the direction it's blowing from, standard meteorological convention, useful for planning your takeoff/landing approach. The hourly timeline also breaks out modelled wind at 10 m/80 m/120 m/180 m — ground-level calm doesn't guarantee calm at your flight altitude.

Why CAPE (storm risk)

Convective Available Potential Energy predicts thunderstorm likelihood ahead of visible rain on radar — high CAPE with no rain yet is still a NO-GO, since Malaysian afternoon storms build fast.

Why Kp (geomagnetic index) is informational only

Kp affects GPS accuracy for enterprise operations at scale, but rarely enough to ground a flight on its own in Malaysia's latitude — shown as a badge, not a scoring factor.

Data accuracy — model vs official

Hourly numbers come from Open-Meteo's numerical model, refreshed hourly. The official MET Malaysia 7-day text forecast is shown alongside as a trust anchor, not merged into the score — the two can occasionally disagree, and that disagreement is itself useful information.

Confidence by forecast horizon

Day 1-3: High confidence. Day 4-7: Medium. Day 8-16: Low — treat far-out planner windows as a starting point for scheduling, not a guarantee.

Malaysia flying conditions — what to expect

The daily pattern: fly in the morning

Malaysia's equatorial climate builds convective energy through the day — mornings (roughly 0800–1100) are typically calmest, storm risk (CAPE) builds through midday, and thunderstorms are most common 1400–1900. This is the single biggest scheduling lever available to you; the timeline and planner exist to surface this window automatically, but it holds as a rule of thumb even without opening the app.

Northeast monsoon (roughly November–March)

Heavier, more sustained rain and rougher winds affecting the east coast of Peninsular Malaysia (Kelantan, Terengganu, Pahang) and parts of Sabah/Sarawak. Expect more NO-GO days and shorter windows in this period if you operate on the east coast.

Southwest monsoon (roughly May–September)

Generally drier overall, but this is also the window when transboundary haze most often affects Peninsular Malaysia, and afternoon convective thunderstorms remain a daily risk everywhere. Don't read "drier season" as "always flyable" — check the Air page, not just rain.

Haze

Haze is irregular, not a fixed calendar window — it depends on transboundary fire activity and wind patterns, and can spike within days. It reduces visibility and is a real health/visual-line-of-sight hazard even when wind and rain both look fine — always check Air before a flight, especially June–September in dry years.

These are general seasonal patterns, not a forecast — always check the live Now card and timeline for your actual date and location.

Field checklist (technique, not legal)

For permits, ATF, and airspace rules, see the Rules page. This list is about not crashing.

  • Battery charged, firmware up to date, props undamaged and correctly seated before you leave the house.
  • Compass calibrated at the actual site — not at home — away from cars, rebar, and buried metal.
  • Return-to-home altitude set above the tallest obstacle between you and home point, not just a default number.
  • Re-check the Now card on site right before takeoff — a forecast made hours ago can be stale by the time you're airborne.
  • Wind at your actual flight altitude, not just the ground reading — see the 10/80/120/180 m breakdown on the timeline.
  • Watch the sky, not just the app, for building cumulus during afternoon flights — CAPE is a probability, not a guarantee, and conditions can turn faster than the hourly model updates.
  • Over/near water: confirm your airframe and gimbal have the water/spray tolerance you're relying on — "Enterprise" class here only means IP-rated wind/rain handling per the manufacturer spec, not automatically your specific model.

Frequently asked questions about drone flying weather in Malaysia

What is the best time of day to fly a drone in Malaysia?

Mornings, roughly 08:00-11:00. Malaysia is equatorial: convective energy builds through the day, so mornings are typically calmest, storm risk peaks around midday, and thunderstorms are most common from about 14:00 to 19:00.

Does GO mean I am legally cleared to fly?

No. GO/CAUTION/NO-GO is a weather-and-airspace-conditions read, not a legal clearance. You still need your own CAAM authorisation (ATF or otherwise) — see Rules. Wondering if you need a pilot licence too? That is a separate question — see Licence.

What wind speed is too strong to fly a drone?

It depends on the aircraft. This tool uses a comfort figure and a hard ceiling per class: Micro (under 250g) 7.0 and 10.7 m/s, Standard 8.0 and 12.0 m/s, Enterprise 10.0 and 15.0 m/s. Gusts are checked as a separate hard gate, because a calm-looking average can still gust past the limit.

Why does my verdict change if I only switch drone class?

Wind/gust thresholds and rain tolerance are set per class — the same weather can be a comfortable GO for an Enterprise IP-rated aircraft and a NO-GO for a sub-250g Micro.

When is the monsoon season in Malaysia for drone flying?

The northeast monsoon runs roughly November to March and brings heavier, more sustained rain to the east coast of Peninsular Malaysia and parts of Sabah and Sarawak. The southwest monsoon runs roughly May to September and is generally drier, but is also when transboundary haze most often affects the peninsula.

The app says CAUTION but MET Malaysia's text forecast sounds fine — which do I trust?

Neither is more official than the other for your specific hour and coordinate — MET's text forecast is written for a wider area and a less granular time window than the model. Read the reason chips on your verdict; they tell you exactly which factor triggered it, and use judgement from there.

Do I need an account?

No — everything except My Plans and syncing Saved locations across devices works with no account. Saved locations work locally in your browser without one.

Is this official MET Malaysia or CAAM data?

MET Malaysia's official text forecast and warnings are shown alongside your verdict, sourced from data.gov.my. The hourly GO/CAUTION/NO-GO score itself is built from Open-Meteo's numerical model — see About for full attribution.