Better than predicted?

For once, the weather yesterday turned out to be better than predicted --
thus proving that the weather gods smile upon us occasionally.

We were in Wisconsin to attend my Uncle's funeral. At 94, he was the last
of his generation. It was at his house that I first became enamored with
flying. It was his wife who introduced me to the fun of listening to air
traffic control on her scanner, and it was in their yard that I saw my first
air show, back when the Blue Angels would perform at Milwaukee's Mitchell
International each year. The Blues were flying F-4 Phantoms then, and I
remember watching an awesome British Vulcan bomber making low passes over
the city.

In many ways, my love of flying was planted right then and there.

The forecast yesterday looked dicey at best. Big thunder-boomers along a
stalled warm front that roughly paralleled our route of flight would make
our flight home doubtful.

All that morning, during the services, I kept glancing nervously at the sky.
The clouds were completely bizarre, with swoops and swirls torn in them that
testified to the turbulence aloft. Dark and foreboding lines of clouds
would roll through, followed by patches of clear, hot and humid air.

In short, we had the perfect recipe for severe weather.

After the requisite family affairs and hitching a ride back to the airport,
I checked the METARs and TAFs -- and was stunned to find that everything was
good VFR along our 90 minute route of flight back to Iowa. In fact, most
reporting stations were "clear and ten" -- which seemed to fly in the face
of reality.

Calling Flight Service, I got the same report -- for once they didn't even
say "VFR flight not recommended" with thunderstorms in the area! The air
was still juicy, and some areas of bad turbulence were still being reported,
but the system had apparently played itself out, at least for the moment.
Our flight home was pleasant and smooth, with just a few rain showers along
the way.

Maybe it was my dear departed uncle, clearing a path for us? Today we've
had 1 inch hail, heavy rains, and high winds...
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"