Pilot Institute

JULY 11, 2025

Key Takeaways Occluded fronts merge warm and cold front hazards, causing complex, severe weather. Pilots should anticipate heavy rain, storms, icing, and turbulence with occluded fronts. What Is a Weather Front? And when you hear about one approaching, expect a change in the weather soon. There are four types of fronts.

Pilot

Pilot Institute

MAY 26, 2025

Welcome to the world of Clear Air Turbulence (CAT). These weather events are fierce and brutal, and whats worse is that you never see them coming. Lets take a closer look at clear air turbulence, so you can anticipate where they might show up, and learn how to manage the risks involved. What Is Clear Air Turbulence?

Turbulence

Flying Magazine

JUNE 24, 2025

Yes, controllers have many other ancillary roles that include helping circumnavigate adverse weather, but it’s not their priority to provide a pilot with weather guidance. Nevertheless, controllers do make an attempt to assist pilots around weather when workload permits. This engenders delays in the NAS.

Air Traffic Control

Pilot Institute

JULY 4, 2025

Squall lines are powerful weather phenomena that can impact vast areas. Moisture, instability, lift, and wind shear are needed to form and sustain a squall line. Squall lines can bring strong turbulence, heavy rain, hail, lightning, and tornadoes. Weather radars and reports can help you plan ahead to avoid squall lines.

Weather

Air Facts

OCTOBER 14, 2024

Turbulence Air Facts Journal Space is infinite in its complexity. And tampering our mental reserves with turbulent mischief. Turbulence is unpredictable. All three axis of an aircraft are subject to the vagaries of turbulence. Similar mechanics are at play in clear air turbulence. And there in lurks the adventure.

Turbulence

Flying Magazine

APRIL 25, 2024

Over the last 25 years, I have been asked to speak on various aviation weather topics at dozens of aviation events and gatherings. During these events, it’s quite common for a pilot to walk up and ask me about how I handled my most challenging flight as it relates to weather. I spent an hour looking at the weather before we departed.

Weather

Greg Brown's Flying Carpet Blog

AUGUST 4, 2024

It includes discussions on high-speed aerodynamics, automation, wake turbulence, high-altitude and adverse weather, air carrier operations, transport airplane performance, and cockpit professionalism and leadership.

Wind Shear

iPad Pilot News

JUNE 5, 2024

Top 10 aviation weather apps for pilots iPad Pilot News Checking the weather before flight has always been one of the most popular uses for the iPad. Searching for “weather” in the App Store will return a flood of apps, many of dubious value. Station Weather. But which app to use? Get the app here.

Weather

Learn to Fly

APRIL 11, 2024

The saying “ in like a lion out like a lamb ” is most often used for March, but April can also be a crazy weather month. Once the decision is made to divert, the next decision is to return to the departure, continue to the alternate (which was determined as part of flight planning), or pick a new destination to get out of the weather.

Weather

Professional Pilot

MAY 10, 2024

Here, ocean currents and large-scale weather patterns often collide. Climate Scientist Significant weather prognostic chart for the north Atlantic. These charts show areas where thunderstorms, turbulence, and other weather hazards may occur on transatlantic routes. By Karsten Shein Comm-Inst.

Weather

Pilot Institute

OCTOBER 17, 2024

These weather alerts each have their own role: AIRMETs warn about moderate conditions like turbulence, icing, and limited visibility, which can affect smaller or less equipped aircraft. SIGMETs alert pilots to more severe weather events like thunderstorms, volcanic ash, or strong turbulence that could pose serious risks to any flight.

UTC

Pilot Institute

NOVEMBER 5, 2024

In aviation, staying ahead of the weather is a must. When weather conditions shift unexpectedly, that’s when a SPECI report comes in. A SPECI (or Special Report) offers a quick weather update between the routine METARs. Let’s explore how SPECIs are going to help you plan around unexpected weather twists.

Altimeter

Air

MAY 21, 2025

Wind Shear: The Abrupt Shift Wind shear refers to any abrupt divergence in wind characteristics be it speed, direction, or both that unfolds over a minimal distance. It is a particularly insidious phenomenon that can be a prime cause of turbulence. And it’s unique in Europe!

Crosswind

Chess In the Air

JULY 4, 2022

I have tried to wait out a storm only to watch a bigger and badder one to move in and the overall weather situation getting worse. We should also observe the ground for other markers such as the disturbed surface of lakes, wind rushing through crop fields, blowing smoke, etc. We need to watch out for all markers of high surface winds.

Wind Shear

Photographic Logbook

APRIL 19, 2024

This year, a promising weather forecast featuring high freezing levels (expected to be 9,000+ feet) led to a decision to fly myself. The day before departure, satisfied that days of consistent weather forecasts reasonably assured a successful flight, I cancelled the rental car reservation. So that was of no help to me.

Approach

Pilot Institute

MAY 1, 2024

The weather can change, and approach equipment can fail. ATIS broadcasts usually include active runways, available approaches, important NOTAMs, and the weather. Get the destination weather as soon as possible. Use the weather (along with the NOTAMs) to ensure your chosen approach is still the best choice.

Approach

Plane and Pilot

OCTOBER 2, 2024

The peppering of rain on the windshield, the darkening of thick clouds, or the battering of wind shear all deliver a clear message that some piloting is now required. is a common question, when the wind, ceiling, visibility, turbulence, or even temperature are obviously not conducive to routine flying.

Wind Shear

Plane and Pilot

OCTOBER 2, 2024

The peppering of rain on the windshield, the darkening of thick clouds, or the battering of wind shear all deliver a clear message that some piloting is now required. is a common question, when the wind, ceiling, visibility, turbulence, or even temperature are obviously not conducive to routine flying.

Wind Shear

Flying Magazine

MAY 1, 2024

Answer: When looking at the surface analysis chart issued every three hours by meteorologists at the Weather Prediction Center (WPC), you may have seen a tan dashed line with a label “OUTFLOW BNDRY” nearby. Crescent-shaped convective outflow boundary as detected on NEXRAD Doppler weather radar.

Wind Shear

Pilot Institute

OCTOBER 15, 2024

Weather experts classify storms as single-cell, multi-cell, squall line, or supercell. Thunderstorms create turbulence, wind shear, and icing risks for aircraft. Pilots should use weather forecasts and SIGMETs for safe flight planning. Key weather features include: Multiple updrafts and downdrafts.

Wind Shear

Ask Captain Lim

MAY 21, 2024

A SIA Boeing 777-300ER taking off at Zurich Photo Credit: Aero Icarus ( [link] ) The Boeing 777 severe encounter with turbulence On May 21, a Singapore Airlines Boeing 777 diverted to Bangkok and made an emergency landing at Suvarnabhumi Airport after encountering severe turbulence, leaving one dead and about 30 injured.

Turbulence

Chess In the Air

JUNE 24, 2022

He frequently hosted visiting pilots, providing them with detailed briefings of the area and the weather. The CAPE index, a measure of convective energy and instability, was below 100 joules, indicating a very low probability of severe weather or thunderstorms. Boundary layer winds were moderate at 10-20 kt out of the WNW.

Pilot