Soft Spot

The end of autumn and beginning of winter in North America is always an unsettled time. That Thanksgiving Day falls squarely in this stretch of shortened days is one of those good news/bad news things. Its good to get a break, and renew associations with friends and family. Its bad because I eat too much. Its also bad because the weather can be so unpredictable-almost winter, but not really. On more than one occasion, Ive been lulled into a false sense of security with benign weather on my flight preceding the holiday, changing to apocalyptic just about the time I want to depart for home. Too, each year, a few of us find a way to bend sheet metal-or worse-during the last few days of November. This year was no different. My flight before the holiday was about as serene as could be. Widespread high pressure blew away all clouds along my route, providing smooth air, bright sunshine and just a hint of headwind. By staying in the southeast, I thought, Id avoid the bad stuff possible in other areas. Checking weather for the return, I discovered I wasnt immune.

Key Takeaways:

• The Thanksgiving period brings highly unpredictable and severe weather conditions that pose significant challenges for aviation, as experienced by the author and tragically demonstrated by another accident.
• The author successfully navigated a complex cold front through strategic planning, utilizing Nexrad for big-picture avoidance and collaborating with ATC to find a safe, albeit bumpy, penetration point.
• Airborne Nexrad, while useful for strategic weather avoidance, has a critical time lag (data up to 15 minutes old), making it an unreliable tool for tactical, real-time penetration of rapidly changing weather fronts.

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