Thunderstorms and the Dry Line

Margaret W. Lamb

Saturday, February 08, 2014 at 02:01 AM ET

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Key Takeaways:

Dry line thunderstorms on the Great Plains are extremely dangerous weather phenomena, caused by the collision of dry and moist air masses, leading to rapid, severe development and powerful updrafts and downdrafts.
Pilots flying in the region must actively check for dry line forecasts, as general "scattered thunderstorm" advisories can be misleading and quickly escalate to lethal conditions.
Key in-flight warning signs include rapidly building cumulus clouds, funnel clouds, lightning, and especially virga (precipitation not reaching the ground), which indicates hazardous updrafts and downdrafts.
If encountering a dry line thunderstorm, the article strongly advises retreating and landing immediately to avoid extreme turbulence, loss of control, and dangerous vertical air currents.

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Illustrations by Matthew Laznicka|

Clayton, New Mexico — way east of the Rocky Mountains, out on the Great Plains. A humid June afternoon. We had finished up in court and were sitting around in the judge’s office. The phone rang. The judge handed it to me. My friend, the airport weather forecaster, spoke abruptly: “Margaret, if you’re gonna go, you’d better git!” So after a quick weather briefing — scattered thunderstorms — I preflighted my Navion and took off on the 160-mile flight west to Taos.