Jump to content

Interesting weather phenomenon - at least I thought so


Mark89114

Recommended Posts

Last week I was flying along at 7,000 east bound from AR to VA, mostly between layers but in constant light rain.  Temperature was +7 Celsius and I wasn't concerned about icing as the winds aloft all showed the temperature to be plenty warm.  Cabin was pleasant, I typically don't run heat as slightly paranoid about it and I do have a CO detector.  In less than a minute the cabin got real cold and the temperature dropped to 0 Celsius and clear ice started building on the wing, hit the TKS system and requested lower altitude immediately which was granted.  About 30 minutes prior someone reported icing at 6000 about 50 miles northeast of my position.  I thought that was odd as we were flying in fundamentally the same air mass and sure enough I got hit by the same thing.  I really wish I would have paid more attention to what caused this but it wasn't a real weather day where you look at all of the options as generally there wasn't anything to be concerned with.  Best I can figure is I was flying in some warm air mass and then flew into the colder air mass....obviously.  Just sharing a story.

   

  • Like 2
  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Mark89114 said:

Best I can figure is I was flying in some warm air mass and then flew into the colder air mass....obviously.  Just sharing a story

That would be a fair guess, I take your story as rain in the middle clear (warm) section between two overcast (cold) stratus layers is probably a trap :lol:

Edited by Ibra
  • Haha 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Boundaries like you have described on cross-countries are interesting and I don’t often understand them.  Many times I’ve crossed clear air frontal boundaries or pressure gradients and watched the “over the ground” speed decrease or increase drastically- and/or observe the autopilot slowly dial in crab angles to compensate for wind direction changes, some rather drastic.  Similar issue to yours, just not dangerous.  It tells me that there are things going on I need to be aware of, and not to let my guard down.

I’m glad you raised a question on this forum. It’ll remind me to more closely listen to pireps, in addition to closely monitoring icing and OAT.  Also to perhaps query ATC about pireps.  Thanks.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

12 minutes ago, Ross Statham said:

Boundaries like you have described on cross-countries are interesting and I don’t often understand them.  Many times I’ve crossed clear air frontal boundaries or pressure gradients and watched the “over the ground” speed decrease or increase drastically- and/or observe the autopilot slowly dial in crab angles to compensate for wind direction changes, some rather drastic.  Similar issue to yours, just not dangerous.  It tells me that there are things going on I need to be aware of, and not to let my guard down.

I’m glad you raised a question on this forum. It’ll remind me to more closely listen to pireps, in addition to closely monitoring icing and OAT.  Also to perhaps query ATC about pireps.  Thanks.

Foreflight linked up to ads-b will show you all the pireps and their position relative to you. Really has enhanced safety awareness.   

  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just now, Will.iam said:

Foreflight will show the pireps on the ground via wifi connection to the internet so you can plan your route to avoid that area. Just checked now at home. here what a pirep looks like. 

AF02A51B-38DD-4507-BB89-FAB97C056077.jpeg

64856D14-B0A3-4AED-AEFA-447F86AB3395.png

Works the same for icing turbulence lightning.  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 2/9/2021 at 10:50 PM, carusoam said:

Seeing if @Scott Dennstaedt is around... (interesting pilot icing experience in a recent flight)

Best regards,

-a-

Would need to know the specifics...date and time (zulu) this occurred and exactly where it was observed (nearest airport and the approximate route...maybe a flightaware track).

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 2/9/2021 at 11:42 PM, Will.iam said:

Foreflight will show the pireps on the ground via wifi connection to the internet so you can plan your route to avoid that area. Just checked now at home. here what a pirep looks like. 

AF02A51B-38DD-4507-BB89-FAB97C056077.jpeg

64856D14-B0A3-4AED-AEFA-447F86AB3395.png

“... because I was inverted “

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 2/16/2021 at 3:24 PM, Mark89114 said:

Will this work?  I tried to find historical prog charts, but no luck...or I got bored. 

Screenshot_20210216-152032_Chrome.jpg

 

 

At what point in the route (some nearby airport/navaid) did you experience the temperature drop at 7K? Approximately what time was that (zulu)?

Edited by Scott Dennstaedt
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Appears there was a warm front nearby the boot heal of Missouri.  So, you likely crossed over from the warm sector to the cold sector along the route.  Here's the freezing level chart showing a sharp gradient in central TN.   

 fzlvl.png.5805648e88a265298a6a410e8fcdfd8a.png

Here's the RAOB for central Arkansas (black) and Nashville (magenta).  Notice the temperature drop at 7K between the two.   

skew-t-front.png.2ce6d06bbc56f1915cffbd694d3f5e4a.png

  • Thanks 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.