Beware of the Benign

Rain showers and thunderstorms are one and the same from a pilot's perspective.

Scott Dennstaedt, Ph.D

Friday, June 09, 2023 at 01:07 PM ET

Verified

Edited By: tccjeremy

[Credit: Jim Stevensen]

Key Takeaways:

Pilots should shift their focus from solely avoiding "thunderstorms" to avoiding all forms of "convection," especially deep, moist convection and rain showers, as these can be equally dangerous.
Rain showers, even without lightning, can harbor severe or extreme turbulence and should be treated with the same caution as thunderstorms due to their potential for hazardous conditions.
Microbursts, a significant aviation threat, frequently originate from "benign-looking cells" or high-based rain showers, rather than just large supercell thunderstorms, leading pilots to a false sense of security.

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What’s the most significant weather threat for summertime flying? Here’s a hint: it’s not thunderstorms. Sure, it’s vital that pilots flying any type of aircraft exercise extreme caution when flying near a thunderstorm. Certainly, any pilot who tangles with a thunderstorm might pay the ultimate price. But it doesn’t take a supercell thunderstorm to ruin your day. So, given how many general aviation pilots nowadays rely on data link weather for avoidance, we need to modify the training narrative and move away from a discussion of thunderstorms to a discussion of convection.

This Article First Appeared in FLYING Magazine

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