Strong thunderstorms are one of the places aviation and fear often intersect. And for good reason: severe storms have led to countless disasters, perhaps the most famous one being the Delta L-1011 crash at DFW Airport in 1985. That tragedy brought far-reaching consequences to flight training programs and ATC equipment, and led to advances in the field of meteorology.
You can read a lot about thunderstorms online and see all sorts of storm video and tornado footage on YouTube, but in this article I’ll draw on my experience as a flight forecaster, my radar and forecast training, and my decade-long foray into storm chasing, which gave me a look at things under the hood. I’ve distilled here some of the most useful fundamentals that are useful to pilots. Hopefully you’ll come away with a more detailed knowledge of what you’re up against when things are looking rough out there.
