Weather

Last month, we discussed upper-air charts and how they shed light on your flight plans. Now, let’s talk about surface charts. In the May 2021 issue we covered a little bit about surface charts, but focused mostly on how to read the station plots—the little groups of data found at each city. It’s time for […]

The sunset of the textual version comes in the wake of mass acceptance of graphical AIRMETs.

The abstracts below derive from ASRS reports on Inflight Weather Encounters involving IFR. They illustrate a variety of real-world IFR weather problems and solutions. If Mother Nature throws you a curve, something you learn here might help someday. The Icicle Twin An ATC supervisor in Boston Center asked a controller/pilot to assist with an emergency […]

Chances are you’ve looked over weather charts, whether at a dispatch office or on the Internet, and wondered how that pile of spaghetti becomes a forecast. Granted, with all the flight planning tools available and 24/7 access to a flight weather briefer, this is not something pilots need to know. Indeed many pilots find themselves […]

Pilots must look for factors that could potentially turn VFR into IFR conditions.

An aviation meteorologist explains how a graphical AIRMET is different from a traditional one.

Here’s how to keep track of a storm’s movement and its impact on airport operations with a few keystrokes.

Hurricane Ian’s devastating impact on Florida and aviation has become apparent. The storm’s wrath was felt well outside its eyewall, as evidenced by the rash of severe weather—including at least one tornado—that ravaged part of Southeast Florida Tuesday night.

When stories about hurricanes damaging airports appear, one of the first questions asked is, “Why didn’t the pilots move their aircraft?” The answer is often they did—but the storm changed direction. Such was the case in 2004 when Hurricane Charley bore down on Florida.

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 […]