Arizona weather

I'm on my way to Flagstaff AZ late next week in my peashooter 172. I'm
watching the radar as thunderstorm after thunderstorm passes through the SW.
The last couple of days the forecasts mention 1-inch hail at my destination!
I've never flown the SW before. The FBO in Flagstaff kind of downplayed the
hail when I called. "Oh ya, it's been on the ground in town but not out
here,,, plenty of folks are parked on the ramp so they must not be worried".



Any tips on whether I need to worry? Any folks in the high county have some
words of wisdom? What's normal in AZ for this time of year? They want $80.00
a night to keep it in a hanger.



Thanks

Dan

"news.verizon.net" wrote in message
news
I'm on my way to Flagstaff AZ late next week in my peashooter 172. I'm
watching the radar as thunderstorm after thunderstorm passes through the
SW.
The last couple of days the forecasts mention 1-inch hail at my
destination!
I've never flown the SW before. The FBO in Flagstaff kind of downplayed
the
hail when I called. "Oh ya, it's been on the ground in town but not out
here,,, plenty of folks are parked on the ramp so they must not be
worried".



Any tips on whether I need to worry? Any folks in the high county have
some
words of wisdom? What's normal in AZ for this time of year? They want
$80.00
a night to keep it in a hanger.

The storms are in the late afternoon through the late evening. Time your
flights accordingly.

You didn't mention from where you'll be coming or the route. But,
late afternoon T-Storms are fairly typical, a lot of hail is not.
I've been to Flagstaff and never paid for a hanger. But if that $80
will buy you peace of mind, then.......

This time of year you're best flying in the early morning to avoid the
thermals and accompanying turbulence.


On Fri, 20 Aug 2004 04:08:53 GMT, "news.verizon.net"
wrote:

I'm on my way to Flagstaff AZ late next week in my peashooter 172. I'm
watching the radar as thunderstorm after thunderstorm passes through the SW.
The last couple of days the forecasts mention 1-inch hail at my destination!
I've never flown the SW before. The FBO in Flagstaff kind of downplayed the
hail when I called. "Oh ya, it's been on the ground in town but not out
here,,, plenty of folks are parked on the ramp so they must not be worried".



Any tips on whether I need to worry? Any folks in the high county have some
words of wisdom? What's normal in AZ for this time of year? They want $80.00
a night to keep it in a hanger.



Thanks

Dan

It's a "Dry Hail". Your plane will barely feel it...


"news.verizon.net" wrote in
news
I'm on my way to Flagstaff AZ late next week in my peashooter 172. I'm
watching the radar as thunderstorm after thunderstorm passes through
the SW. The last couple of days the forecasts mention 1-inch hail at my
destination! I've never flown the SW before. The FBO in Flagstaff kind
of downplayed the hail when I called. "Oh ya, it's been on the ground
in town but not out here,,, plenty of folks are parked on the ramp so
they must not be worried".



Any tips on whether I need to worry? Any folks in the high county have
some words of wisdom? What's normal in AZ for this time of year? They
want $80.00 a night to keep it in a hanger.



Thanks

Dan

"news.verizon.net" wrote:

I'm on my way to Flagstaff AZ late next week in my peashooter 172. I'm
watching the radar as thunderstorm after thunderstorm passes through
the SW. The last couple of days the forecasts mention 1-inch hail at
my destination! I've never flown the SW before. The FBO in Flagstaff
kind of downplayed the hail when I called. "Oh ya, it's been on the
ground in town but not out here,,, plenty of folks are parked on the
ramp so they must not be worried".



Any tips on whether I need to worry? Any folks in the high county have
some words of wisdom? What's normal in AZ for this time of year? They
want $80.00 a night to keep it in a hanger.


As others have said, if you're flying in the morning it should be nice. Our
"monsoon season" weather pattern is typically clear in the mornings, with
afternoon thunderstorm buildups very common. The best time to be flying
is in the morning. If you're staying overnight, and the sky is threatening,
I might go for the hangar. They had a major hail storm a week or two ago
with pictures in the news - it looked like a winter blizzard with several
inches of accumulation. I was up there a few weeks ago. It's a nice airport
and FBO. Enjoy the trip!

Mike

we just moved to phoenix from las vegas, from what I am seeing, phoenix gets
ALLOT of rain this time of year, more then a week, everynight lighting storms,
earlier this week, 3 straight nights of dust storms then the rain moves in.

my plane has been out in open tie down here, no problems, no damage.

"news.verizon.net" wrote:

I'm on my way to Flagstaff AZ late next week in my peashooter 172. I'm
watching the radar as thunderstorm after thunderstorm passes through the SW.
The last couple of days the forecasts mention 1-inch hail at my destination!
I've never flown the SW before. The FBO in Flagstaff kind of downplayed the
hail when I called. "Oh ya, it's been on the ground in town but not out
here,,, plenty of folks are parked on the ramp so they must not be worried".

Any tips on whether I need to worry? Any folks in the high county have some
words of wisdom? What's normal in AZ for this time of year? They want $80.00
a night to keep it in a hanger.

Thanks

Dan

"Tom S." wrote in message ...
"news.verizon.net" wrote in message
news
Any tips on whether I need to worry? Any folks in the high county have
some
words of wisdom? What's normal in AZ for this time of year? They want
$80.00
a night to keep it in a hanger.

The storms are in the late afternoon through the late evening. Time your
flights accordingly.


Running into an afternoon thunderstorm in AZ is almost like hitting a
bus in an open field. They are pretty easy to stay away from. I"ve
never bothered trying to time my summer flights through AZ and NM.
Just turn if you start to head to a TS. If a TS is over the airport
when you are arriving, just throttle back to give yourself an extra 10
minutes. The storm will pass. They rarely stay in one place for long.
-Robert

"Robert M. Gary" wrote in message
om...
"Tom S." wrote in message
...
"news.verizon.net" wrote in message
news
Any tips on whether I need to worry? Any folks in the high county have
some
words of wisdom? What's normal in AZ for this time of year? They want
$80.00
a night to keep it in a hanger.

The storms are in the late afternoon through the late evening. Time your
flights accordingly.


Running into an afternoon thunderstorm in AZ is almost like hitting a
bus in an open field. They are pretty easy to stay away from. I"ve
never bothered trying to time my summer flights through AZ and NM.
Just turn if you start to head to a TS. If a TS is over the airport
when you are arriving, just throttle back to give yourself an extra 10
minutes. The storm will pass. They rarely stay in one place for long.

The last storm we had to "wait to pass" (going into Scottsdale) lasted from
5PM until almost 10PM.

"Tom S." wrote in message
...

"Robert M. Gary" wrote in message
om...

Running into an afternoon thunderstorm in AZ is almost like hitting a
bus in an open field. They are pretty easy to stay away from. I"ve
never bothered trying to time my summer flights through AZ and NM.
Just turn if you start to head to a TS. If a TS is over the airport
when you are arriving, just throttle back to give yourself an extra 10
minutes. The storm will pass. They rarely stay in one place for long.

The last storm we had to "wait to pass" (going into Scottsdale) lasted
from
5PM until almost 10PM.

Follow up: That was certainly not the only time. Dust storms and anytime
after the monsoon season comes can have storms all evening. Yes, they can be
circumnavigated, but mostly it's picking your way through a minefield and
possibly diverting as much as 200 miles. Especially if you're coming from
the East / Northeast (our typical arrival was right over the Mogollon Rim).