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Strategy for crossing a front

chrisk

By chrisk
in General Mooney Talk

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chrisk Veteran

chrisk

Posted
Posted

I've got a trip from Austin TX to Florida in 2 weeks.  As part of my pre-flight planning I start looking at the weather a week or two in advance to get a feel for things.   Today it looks like it would be a challenging trip!  There is a good sized front to cross.

 

What is the best strategy for crossing this front?  Fly up to Tennessee, try to cross there, and then back down to Florida?  Obviously delaying by a day or two is an option.  Going over the weather does not seem like an option with tops well into the flight levels, and well above the ceiling of any Mooney.

 

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AndyFromCB Veteran

AndyFromCB

Posted
Posted

There are fronts and then there are FRONTS. This one looks like a FRONT with a squall line. Best strategy would be a Citation X and FL510. I'd wait this one out and Lord knows I'll fly thru some muck a lot of times. My two cents.

rbridges Grand Master

rbridges

Posted
Posted

I'm new to reading weather charts, but I know to stay away from red.  I'm actually trying to fly from central GA to eastern TN tomorrow.  It looks like I'll be outside the worst weather.

Rwsavory Mentor

Rwsavory

Posted
Posted

A good general rule is to never cross a cold front in a light plane.  Here, it looks like under the right circumstances you could go up to Northern Tennessee and then head Southeast.  You would probably encounter some turbulence and rain.  Looking at the whole weather picture, I would opt to wait it out.

Earl Proficient

Earl

Posted
Posted

I agree with the post above that this may be a squall line that is best to let go away.  One thing for sure, I would not try to cross this front to the south where there will be more energy and hence a greater likelihood of convective activity.  Problem with crossing fronts this time of year is icing if you try to go high.  But I also question the usefulness of this tool other than to consider alternative travel methods some time out.  But the way the weather forecasts change dramatically on almost daily basis I use the long term forecasts with a big grain of salt.  

1964-M20E Grand Master

1964-M20E

Posted
Posted

I’d most likely stay home with this unless I was going to FL but then from N.O. I’d be ahead of the front leaving today but tomorrow would be a different story.  The SR22 guy maybe a little crazy but he has managed to navigate the front successfully.  One thing I have learned is that once you are up there the picture you see is usually quite different from what was predicted or is seen in the radar images unless clear blue skies have been forecast.  What looks like solid red and yellow can be very scattered clouds that can be flow around quite easily.   I will stay away from large sections of red and yellow whenever possible.  Also red and yellow is not necessarily convective weather and may not be pleasant weather either.  Like some said above the conditions change daily and even by the hour fronts have been known to dissipate and have far less weather than predicted and they can do just the opposite.

 

Stay informed and be safe.

 

Oh one more thing fly fast and close your eyes it helps. :) 

Bob - S50 Grand Master

Bob - S50

Posted
Posted

If possible, I agree with almost everybody here.  Time permitting I'd wait it out.

 

Being in the pacific northwest (wet side of the mountains) we don't get much convective activity.  I also have not done any GA flying around thunderstorms.  As a matter of fact, when we were looking to buy our plane I considered a stormscope a useless piece of equipment.  Not that it wouldn't work, but rather that if I need one to navigate around lighting and thunderstorms I probably shouldn't be flying.  Put it on the ground and wait for it to move.

 

On the other hand, I've navigated around weather quite a bit commercially.  Over the years I noted that the coverage and intensity of weather often varies by time of day.  You might find that it would be quite a bit easier if you go EARLY in the day before heat convection adds to the energy.  Or, LATE in the day when the weather is diminishing.  In either case, I would definitely stay out of the weather to see what I'm headed at.  If I don't like it I'd execute the most important maneuver in aviation, the 180, and land someplace.

 

Good luck,

 

Bob

John Pleisse Grand Master

John Pleisse

Posted
Posted

This is a deep low (U.P. pf Michigan) and it is spinning squall lines to The Gulf of Mexico. 80 mph winds in Cleveland tonight. Low level jet, right over Tennessee. This one has sucker punch written all over it. You could launch and nudge up to the line, get a room and then do a second leg as it breaks up the next morning. Chris...I'll bet there is ice in the low teens down south.

N9453V Community Regular

N9453V

Posted
Posted

It's worth noting that FlightAware's weather is not "live" - it will show weather from a specific point during a completed flight, so often times it will look like a plane flew through red radar returns when that's just not the case.

 

As of 4PM EDT, the trip seems very doable (assuming you are going IFR)... I'd fly the gulf coast from Houston to Beaumont (it looks like mostly yellow radar returns) and then you are pretty much in the clear once you pass south of Baton Rouge.

 

-Andrew

ghovey Enthusiast

ghovey

Posted
Posted

Well, always avoid the red on the radar returns.  Try to avoid the yellow whenever possible.  When the millibar lines are close together-there is a lot of wind.  The jet stream is curving south and then back north and picking up all that moisture and bringing it up along the front.  Tennessee would probably be OK but I would get the METAR from about 10 airports within 100 miles on each side of the front and under the frontal boundary and just see what is happening.  Another thing you can do is to check some webcams in the areas you want to fly.  I have even called the airports and asked somebody at the FBO to tell me what the weather is doing.  I regularly fly my Mooney across the country and sometimes there is weather.  Sometimes I fly well out of my way to avoid it as basically I am a coward when it comes to solid yellow and red.

Definitely only do this in the daytime- you may be able to fly under it without too much trouble-but check the areas you plan to fly in and you will get your answer.

N201MKTurbo Grand Master

N201MKTurbo

Posted
Posted

I would watch it for a couple of days before the trip. There may be times of day when it ebbs and flows. It may be doable first thing in the morning. If I had to leave right now and saw the chart above, I'd drive. I love driving through bad weather.

tony Mentor

tony

Posted
Posted

ok, as a VFR pilot who wants to become instrument rated someday, I hear a lot of experience talking.  For everyone who said wait it out, I'm sure there are personal experiences and stories......how do you know?

Marauder Grand Master

Marauder

Posted
Posted
ok, as a VFR pilot who wants to become instrument rated someday, I hear a lot of experience talking. For everyone who said wait it out, I'm sure there are personal experiences and stories......how do you know?
Easy: anetuhy9.jpg I'm supposed to pick up my plane tomorrow. 60 knot gusts... Ain't gonna happen...
Marauder Grand Master

Marauder

Posted
Posted
ok, as a VFR pilot who wants to become instrument rated someday, I hear a lot of experience talking. For everyone who said wait it out, I'm sure there are personal experiences and stories......how do you know?
You asked for a story... Right after I got my instrument rating, I was on top of my game. I was also young and dumb. I had flown some serious winds that included actually landing diagonally on my home runway because I needed to take take a few knots of crosswind component out (I ran out of rudder authority while setting up my final crab to land). Well, one day a front is coming through like the one above. I decided to go flying. I had a friend help me pull the plane out of the hangar because the winds were gusting heavily. As it is sitting on the ramp empty, with him holding the propeller so I can get inside, I'm watching my airplane start to come off of the tarmac. One wheel actually left the ground for a second. Needless to say, after observing that, we carefully put it back in the hangar. The unfortunate thing about aviation experience is that sometimes you die getting it.

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