8 days around the Great Lakes

And he was right - as we approached the
pattern, we watched in amazement as the "curtain" of water pulled
away to the East, leaving the airport in sunshine while downtown was
still getting pounded, just a mile or two away.

I have some interest in thunderstorms, as I live in the Northeast where
we don't get to see them as well as you do, and don't like flying
through them by mistake. Seems to me that if downtown, just a mile or
two away (the length of a long runway) is getting "pounded", that's too
close to a thunderstorm, clear or not. Ten to twenty miles is what I
was taught, especially considering that hail can fall that far away.

Were you really flying, landing even, "one or two" miles from the
thunderstorm in a cherokee?

Jose
--
The monkey turns the crank and thinks he's making the music.
for Email, make the obvious change in the address.

I have some interest in thunderstorms, as I live in the Northeast where
we don't get to see them as well as you do, and don't like flying
through them by mistake. Seems to me that if downtown, just a mile or
two away (the length of a long runway) is getting "pounded", that's too
close to a thunderstorm, clear or not. Ten to twenty miles is what I
was taught, especially considering that hail can fall that far away.

Were you really flying, landing even, "one or two" miles from the
thunderstorm in a cherokee?

I don't think so. After reviewing the photos (which I'll get 'round to
posting, one of these days) I'd say it was more like five or six miles
away.

This is still pretty close, probably too close for a building,
advancing line of storms. However, this was a retreating, isolated
cell, and there was virtually no wind when we touched down.

This kind of storm happens frequently in the Midwest at this time of
year. We call them "popcorn" storms, cuz they pop up and move in a
very disorganized fashion, and are usually not associated with any
frontal boundaries. This makes them hard to predict but easy to spot,
in a clear blue sky, and because they are small they are pretty easy to
fly around.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

"Jose" wrote in message
. com...
[...] Ten to twenty miles is what I was taught, especially considering
that hail can fall that far away.

Hail will fall downwind, which is in the direction of the storm movement.
Jay was flying upwind, behind the storm.

As far as other hazards of thunderstorms go...

Turbulence and reduced visibility are generally experienced only within the
thunderstorm, especially if it's a small, isolated one. Likewise
microbursts. Lightning needs a cloud to start from, so again...if the sky
is clear where one is flying, that's unlikely to be an issue.

I agree that as a rule of thumb, 10 or 20 miles (depending on the size of
the storm) is a good distance to maintain. However, just as 20 miles is
excessively cautious for a medium- to small-sized storm, so too 10 miles is
not a hard and fast rule to be followed even when dealing with a relatively
small, isolated, dissipating thunderstorm, especially when flying upwind of
it, and especially when one has a weather report indicating good flying
conditions in that area.

Whether any of this applies to Jay's situation, I cannot say. Sounds like,
though, his biggest transgression was his habit of exaggeration (in which,
this time, "a mile or two" becomes "five or six miles").

Pete