Terminal aerodrome forecasts, better known as TAFs are issued four (4) times daily and represent a forecast for the expected meteorological conditions at an airport that are significant to aviation for a specified period of time. Normally this period is 24 hours. While 24 hours will still be the norm for most airports in the U.S., 32 high-impact airports have been extended from 24 hours to 30 hours starting 0000 UTC on November 5, 2008. This change has triggered...

It’s never a good practice to rely too heavily on any one piece of weather guidance when making a preflight decision. For those pilots that regularly use the Current Icing Product (or CIP) for your preflight weather briefings you’ll want to pay close attention. While CIP usually does a fantastic job depicting...

An air mass is an extremely large body of air whose properties of temperature and moisture are fairly similar in any horizontal direction at any given latitude. While air masses are three-dimensional, their lateral dimensions are typically two or three orders of magnitude larger than their vertical dimensions. Most pilots tend to focus what may occur at the air mass boundary and rarely account for what happens behind the boundary as the air mass becomes modified by the surface characteristics of the new region. In addition to assessing air mass characteristics and direction of movement, pilots should strive to understand how an air mass may become modified as it moves away from their source regions. In this workshop we'll determine how...

NEXRAD from the NWS WSR-88D Doppler radars is probably one of the first products a pilot studies before departing on any cross country flight. For the most part, it provides a very high glance value with very little knowledge or training required to use the product safely. It’s also the data used to build the satellite weather display employed by thousands of pilots in the cockpit. However, the NEXRAD image isn’t always clean and...

Every pilot must get beyond the generalizations and simple rules of thumb they were taught in their primary training. When the weather is even remotely challenging, the need to work hard to put together an objective analysis of the weather using a method that works every time is...

Every pilot must get beyond the generalizations and simple rules of thumb that rarely apply especially when Mother Nature is at her worst. When the weather is even remotely challenging, the need to work hard to put together an objective analysis of the weather using a method that works every time is paramount. In this preview you will learn...

Turbulence by far is one of the most difficult adverse weather elements for pilots to visualize on any weather chart or map. While highly variable throughout the year, it is not limited to a particular season and occurs anytime during the day and night. In simple terms, the turbulence we feel is the result of...

During the late fall, winter and early spring, flying in cloud-free air over a cloud deck is one approach that will minimize your exposure to structural icing. Even when icing isn’t a threat, many pilots would rather fly on top of the cloud layer to avoid extended time in IMC. Given the limited amount of official guidance, pilots have...

Once you step away from the computer and head out to preflight your airplane, many decisions pertaining to the flight have already been made. Route and altitude have been chosen and your flight plan has been filed hoping it will minimize your exposure to adverse weather. But the weather analysis doesn’t stop after the door to the cockpit is shut and you’re taxiing out to depart; in fact, on some long cross country flights it’s just beginning...

Most pilots are taught that it takes three basic ingredients to initiate deep convection, better known as thunderstorms. The atmosphere needs moisture, instability and sufficient outside energy contribution as a catalyst to vertical ascent. The key word here is sufficient. Even with extreme instability and very high atmospheric moisture, the last ingredient must be present in sufficient quantity...