Aviation Weather
The Dreaded Thunderstorm Obtaining a weather brief during the summer months in El Paso, TX is always a difficult task. They will brief you with good weather but always end the conversation with "there's a potential for thunderstorms." Then the question becomes, should I fly? There's always the chance that thunderstorms can build pretty rapidly during the period of mid July through mid September. This is due to there being moisture in the upper layer of the sky, and warm, unstable air at the surface, which ultimately rises. Three ingredients are needed for thunderstorms to form: warm, unstable air; moisture; and something that will trigger motion in the atmosphere (like a front). Thunderstorms can be very dangerous for pilots to fly near and as a pilot, you never want to fly through one. Thunderstorms are capable of producing the following: turbulence, hail, lightning, high gusting wind heavy rain, and thunder. Thunderstorms have the potential to destroy aircraft...