Without a doubt, the western United States offers the best VFR flying in the nation. This is partly why the military has its air combat training centers in Arizona, Nevada, and California. Most likely you’ve also done some cross-country trips in those areas and had no problems.
But this area is not without its hazards and peculiarities. The landscape and nearby oceans complicate the forecast picture, so when things go downhill, things can get quite difficult. Forecast models have always had difficulty factoring in these effects. And the effects of climate change have also brought with it some new flying problems which we’ll discuss later.
