Thunderstorms—Up (too) Close and Personal
Submitted by
Nicole Cordeiro
El Centro College
GEOL 1447, Section 51426, Fall 2013

Article Summary of Thunderstorms—Up (too) Close and Personal
"It is intuitively obvious that thunderstorms are laden with a myriad of unacceptable environmental hazards to aviation”. While this may sound like fairly common knowledge, many are unaware of the hazards that thunderstorms present while flying. For instance, how often have you been at an airport, experiencing a flight delay due to weather, and witnessed the angry passenger who can’t seem to understand why the aircraft cannot take off in a thunderstorm. After all, it’s just a little rain and thunder, right (Miner, 1998)?
To fully understand the hazards of piloting through a thunderstorm, one must first understand what a thunderstorm truly is and how it is formed. Thunderstorms, as reported to pilots through airfield weather reports, are nothing more than local storms which produce thunder – a fairly simple concept. However, often times, accompanying the thunder is also gusty winds, heavy rain, and sometimes hail. These conditions can obviously have an adverse impact on the piloting of aircraft. But, what causes these meteorological phenomena (Miner, 1998)?
Quite simply, a thunderstorm is the result of converging air masses, typically warm and cold, which then produces a lifting effect. This lifting effect, or warm air rising over cold air, inherently begins to accumulate water molecules from within the air. The more moisture in the air, as a result of a higher dew point, the more water molecules there are to be lifted, resulting in the formation of a larger thunderstorm. As moisture is lifted to higher altitudes, encountering additional water molecules along the way, the molecules begin to accumulate. Eventually the water molecules will amass to the point that they are no longer able to be sustained in the air and they will begin to fall; this is what we know as rain. As the water molecules fall, often times at speed of up to 2,500 feet per minute, they begin to create energy and pull cooler air downward. This downward pulling of cool air is what results in wind gusts. Additionally, the energy created but the downdraft is what provides the kinetic energy necessary to produce lightening. This positive energy reacts with negative energy within the atmosphere, and as a means to equalize, lightening is formed. Lightening, seeking the path of least resistance, is often times seen forming from cloud to cloud, but can also be cloud to ground. Occasionally, as the water moisture is falling, it will be caught by the warmer air rising and be pulled back up into the atmosphere. Because of the very cold temperatures higher in atmosphere, the water begins to freeze and the formation of ice crystals and hail begins. All of these atmospheric conditions; wind gusts, heavy rain, lightening, and hail, can prove to be challenging to flight operations (Miner, 1998).
Having a better understanding of the basic components of a thunderstorm, one can then begin to assess the hazards associated with the collective whole. Rain in and of itself it not always a hazard to piloting. However, heavy rain can have an adverse effect on pilot vision and, when combined with the other aspects of a thunderstorm, can be quite challenging. The variable wind gusts make navigation more difficult, as the gusts are typically both horizontal and vertical. This results in vast changes in both lateral course as well as altitude. Hail can cause severe aircraft damage as well as ice accumulation on the flight control surfaces. And finally, lightening can have a drastic effect on aircraft electrical systems as well as the stability of the aircraft fuselage, as noted by the author’s report of a 6-inch hole in the radome of his aircraft (Miner, 1998).
The best course of action to mitigate the effects of flying through a thunderstorm is to simply avoid flying through a thunderstorm all together. However, if unavoidable, one should never try to fly over a thunderstorm, as they can grow very rapidly. Additionally, once you penetrate the storm cloud, continue straight ahead and don’t make an attempt to turn around. Likewise, make every effort to hold your heading and altitude. And finally, make use of all anti-icing equipment and flight deck lighting that is available (Miner, 1998).
In summation, thunderstorms are truly much more than “just a little rain and thunder.” Their effects can severely impact the safety of flight operations. Piloting through thunderstorms should be avoided at all costs, but when necessary, must be done with a high degree of vigilance and understanding of thunderstorm formation.

References
Miner, T. H. (1998, June). Thunderstorms--up (too) close and personal. Flying Safety, 54(6), 4-9. Retrieved from Vocational and Career Collection database.