Learning About the Weather

Weather is the one thing that has a bigger impact on pilots than any other single factor. As pilots, we are constantly having to monitor the weather forecasts, current conditions, and how this could affect out flight plans. Unfortunately, current FAA training does a poor job of getting a pilot prepared for real-world weather observation and what that means to flying. After getting my Private Certificate, my understanding of weather was limited to only flying in VFR conditions and relying on forecasts to determine if those conditions exist. If they did, I could fly. If not, I was grounded. Pretty simple and basic understanding, I guess.

Once I started working on my Instrument Rating, weather became a bit more tricky. In IFR conditions, you are allowed to fly into clouds, so figuring out what is going on with clouds and how they affect your flight become more important. Of course, I knew not to fly near thunderstorms, as these can prematurely end a flight, and not by getting you to your destination quickly. As a general rule, 20 mile circumnavigation of thunderstorms prevents entering conditions that can lead to loss of control or catastrophic structural failure of an airframe. The biggest surprise to me was learning about icing.

Looking up in the sky, those clouds we see are composed of collections of water vapor. Take into account that any increase in altitude typically results in dropping temperature. At some point, the temperature will reach freezing or below, which means the water vapor freezes, especially when coming into contact with a cold airframe, leading to ice accumulation. During the winter, with temperatures near freezing on the ground, it doesn't take much altitude to find that one cannot enter the clouds at all due to the risk of icing. Many times, in my part of the world, winter means flying in VFR conditions only due to this problem.

With completion of my Instrument Rating, I had a better working knowledge of weather, figuring out how to avoid icing and conditions that can result in reduced visibility while flying. However, it was still a rudimentary understanding of how to figure out when to fly and when to stay on the ground.

I have found one resource that has been absolutely essential in my gaining a better understanding of weather and how it relates to flying. Aviation Weather Workshops has a collection of on-line courses that really break it out for pilots to learn all the nuances of forecasting weather and collecting vital information to make a flight as safe as possible. It has been an invaluable resource for me this past year in expanding my aviation weather knowledge. Yesterday, I spent time doing multiple modules on utilizing Skew-T Log(p) Diagrams to predict various weather conditions along a route of flight. It is beginning to move me from one who solely uses the forecasts and predictions of others to being able to use this additional tool to supplement my understanding of conditions that may be encountered during a flight. I am continuing to work on these diagrams to observe and predict weather conditions. I would encourage other pilots to consider joining Aviation Weather Workshops to learn more about weather and flying.