Professional Pilot, October 2017
WX BRIEF Climatic conditions prevalent in the E ven at FL230 the pilot of the twin turboprop was struggling to pick his way around the cells that seemed to fill up the radarscope like red and yellow popcorn over central Georgia Looking out the window on the occasions that the aircraft entered a break in the cumuli he could see the towering clouds on either side and straight ahead At his 10 oclock position the pilot saw his opportunity a large patch of clear air His GPS showed a small airstrip near there and he broadcast to ATC that he was going to deviate and try to land there ATC confirmed there was no conflicting traffic and 44 PROFESSIONAL PILOT October 2017 Southeast United States This region is ideally positioned to deliver a year round weather cocktail for pilots cleared him to descend on a new heading Approaching the airfield he spied a smaller towering cumulus less than 1 mile from the runway But the radar showed only light rain in the area of the cloud He though perhaps he had time to land before the storm matured With a wary eye on the storm the pilot set up the turboprop twin for final approach As the wheels dropped the pilot noticed a rain shaft appear beneath the cumulonimbus He could also see an arc of dust pushing out ahead of the cloud moving toward the runway Immediately recognizing a downburst the pilot applied power and aborted the landing By the time he came around for another go the rain shaft had thinned and the aircraft landed without incident A couple of hours later the pilot and his passengers took off to complete their flight amid calmer skies Weather conditions in the Southeast US often present challenges and dangers to pilots Summer days can be dominated by widespread convection while winters often see cold fronts plunge as far as Florida The regions weather has contributed to numerous aircraft accidents and the demise of some very experienced pilots over the years By Karsten Shein Comm Inst Climate Scientist Radar image of planes over US airspace including those departing the Florida area before Hurricane Irma reaches the region Top left Irmas forecast path 2 days before it made landfall in South Florida Tropical cyclones are one of several significant weather features of the Southeast US
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