cdcollura
EF5
Good day all,
No, this is not from a hurricane hunter flight, but SW Airlines en-route from Fort Lauderdale to Chicago on Aug 22, 2008 at roughly 7 PM EDT. This view above is the circulation center of Fay, while she was at 45-MPH over N Florida!
Above: Fay caused major flight delays regardless of where you were going - Especially in the SE US.
Above: If you were lucky enough to fly out, let alone fly OVER Fay, this is what you saw ;-) ... The circulation center is just to the center-right of the picture (a deck and swirl of altocumulus was in the storm center).
Above: Looking down while over the "eye" of Fay ... A break in the low clouds reveals a very wet and windy view of land / roadways.
Above: Here is another view of the storm's center, from 38,000 feet, looking SW. Note the break in the clouds to the SW, which is a "soft spot" in the convection around the center. The cirrus clouds above us are from the "hot towers" of the storm, which extend to at least 60,000 feet.
Above: This is the GPS position at the time the pictures were taken.
Above: Annotated diagram / overlay of satellite and radar images during the "fly-over" of Fay. Cool note ... Notice the "break" to the SW as well, you can see it in the pictures and the radar image.
Now, all you guys are asking ... Why flight THROUGH Fay?
Well, it's really a matter of finding the best route and smoothest air (the pilot sure did his homework). If you look at the radar image, it is actually a better flight across the upper-air portions of the "eye". Flying on either side of it presents a path through more convection (= turbulence) ... As long as you can find a "soft" spot to fly through or over on each side of the "eye", you are fine and the ride across the "eye" is smooth!
There was a bit of turbulence on each side of the center, especially the northern (right) side of the circulation, but the flight was so high it was over 90% of it, and in mostly stratiform (ice) cirrus clouds.
No, this is not from a hurricane hunter flight, but SW Airlines en-route from Fort Lauderdale to Chicago on Aug 22, 2008 at roughly 7 PM EDT. This view above is the circulation center of Fay, while she was at 45-MPH over N Florida!
Above: Fay caused major flight delays regardless of where you were going - Especially in the SE US.
Above: If you were lucky enough to fly out, let alone fly OVER Fay, this is what you saw ;-) ... The circulation center is just to the center-right of the picture (a deck and swirl of altocumulus was in the storm center).
Above: Looking down while over the "eye" of Fay ... A break in the low clouds reveals a very wet and windy view of land / roadways.
Above: Here is another view of the storm's center, from 38,000 feet, looking SW. Note the break in the clouds to the SW, which is a "soft spot" in the convection around the center. The cirrus clouds above us are from the "hot towers" of the storm, which extend to at least 60,000 feet.
Above: This is the GPS position at the time the pictures were taken.
Above: Annotated diagram / overlay of satellite and radar images during the "fly-over" of Fay. Cool note ... Notice the "break" to the SW as well, you can see it in the pictures and the radar image.
Now, all you guys are asking ... Why flight THROUGH Fay?
Well, it's really a matter of finding the best route and smoothest air (the pilot sure did his homework). If you look at the radar image, it is actually a better flight across the upper-air portions of the "eye". Flying on either side of it presents a path through more convection (= turbulence) ... As long as you can find a "soft" spot to fly through or over on each side of the "eye", you are fine and the ride across the "eye" is smooth!
There was a bit of turbulence on each side of the center, especially the northern (right) side of the circulation, but the flight was so high it was over 90% of it, and in mostly stratiform (ice) cirrus clouds.
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