Bremerton, WA

We will be flying (hopefully) to Bremerton, WA (KPWT) on Wednesday and the
weather in the PNW does not look very good either now or in the forecast
(widespread fog, vis 1/8sm). Are there any local fog effects at Bremerton?
Are there airports in the area that are not as likely to have fog? Which
ones? Thanks!

Mike
MU-2

Usually Boeing Field (KBFI) has the best weather when there is a big foggy
high in the area, like right now.

Bremerton does make it's own weather, but not with widespread low IFR
conditions like the past week. It usually makes IFR conditions when
EVERYWHERE else is VFR. There doesn't seem to be much relief coming. These
conditions come every year and stay for a couple of weeks at a time.

Karl
"Curator" N185KG


"Mike Rapoport" wrote in message
ink.net...
We will be flying (hopefully) to Bremerton, WA (KPWT) on Wednesday and the
weather in the PNW does not look very good either now or in the forecast
(widespread fog, vis 1/8sm). Are there any local fog effects at
Bremerton? Are there airports in the area that are not as likely to have
fog? Which ones? Thanks!

Mike
MU-2

"Mike Rapoport" wrote in message
ink.net...
We will be flying (hopefully) to Bremerton, WA (KPWT) on Wednesday and the
weather in the PNW does not look very good either now or in the forecast
(widespread fog, vis 1/8sm). Are there any local fog effects at
Bremerton? Are there airports in the area that are not as likely to have
fog? Which ones? Thanks!

As Karl says, the current weather pattern is one of widespread fog. You're
unlikely to find significantly different conditions at Bremerton than
elsewhere. However, on some days the fog burns off an hour or so before
sunset, and the distribution of this can be somewhat variable. So toward
the end of the daylight hours, some places may still be fogged in while
other places may not be.

As far as alternates go, I'd disagree with the claim that Boeing Field is
reliably the best weather when conditions are foggy. It often is, but it
really depends on the nature of the fog. If the fog has a little bit of
elevation to it, then Boeing Field, being so close to sea level, can be
landable (at least IFR). This is the current situation.

But if the fog is right down to the water, then KBFI will be fogged in,
while some of the airports at higher elevators may actually be fog-free, or
at least will have the fog burn off earlier in the day. This would include
Sea-Tac Airport and Paine Field (Snohomish County Airport).

Also, getting away from the water can sometimes improve things. So (for
example) Arlington Airport could have better conditions than Paine Field.
But we don't really have that many airports far enough away from the water
to help.

All that said, unless you have Cat II or Cat III capabilities, you should
anticipate that on this Wednesday, you might not be able to land anywhere in
or around Puget Sound, including Bremerton. Make sure you've got a good
alternate somewhere else (and just getting on the other side of the Cascades
might not be sufficient...at this particular instant, it would be good
enough -- though still not good VFR -- but it can get just as foggy over
there sometimes).

On top of all this, forecasts for when the fog will dissipate cannot be
trusted. The fog could clear hours before they say it will, or it could not
clear at all. It's important to know the forecasts (and of course current
conditions), but I'd say that around here, fog-related forecasts are about
as unreliable as weather forecasts get (other than "there will be fog" ),
and that's saying something.

Sorry to not have better news. Hopefully, Boeing Field will remain a good
alternate. On the bright side, if you wind up landing in Seattle, you can
easily take a ferry from there to Bremerton. That's always fun.

Pete

Thanks Peter and Karl Hopefully things will be OK on Wednesday. It is
only an hour flight so I guess we could come back here if it doesn't work
out. Driving isn't much better with Snoqualmie pass only one lane each way.
At least if a drive, I could cart more stuff back from the Beoing Surplus
store!

Mike
MU-2



"Peter Duniho" wrote in message
...
"Mike Rapoport" wrote in message
ink.net...
We will be flying (hopefully) to Bremerton, WA (KPWT) on Wednesday and
the weather in the PNW does not look very good either now or in the
forecast (widespread fog, vis 1/8sm). Are there any local fog effects at
Bremerton? Are there airports in the area that are not as likely to have
fog? Which ones? Thanks!

As Karl says, the current weather pattern is one of widespread fog.
You're unlikely to find significantly different conditions at Bremerton
than elsewhere. However, on some days the fog burns off an hour or so
before sunset, and the distribution of this can be somewhat variable. So
toward the end of the daylight hours, some places may still be fogged in
while other places may not be.

As far as alternates go, I'd disagree with the claim that Boeing Field is
reliably the best weather when conditions are foggy. It often is, but it
really depends on the nature of the fog. If the fog has a little bit of
elevation to it, then Boeing Field, being so close to sea level, can be
landable (at least IFR). This is the current situation.

But if the fog is right down to the water, then KBFI will be fogged in,
while some of the airports at higher elevators may actually be fog-free,
or at least will have the fog burn off earlier in the day. This would
include Sea-Tac Airport and Paine Field (Snohomish County Airport).

Also, getting away from the water can sometimes improve things. So (for
example) Arlington Airport could have better conditions than Paine Field.
But we don't really have that many airports far enough away from the water
to help.

All that said, unless you have Cat II or Cat III capabilities, you should
anticipate that on this Wednesday, you might not be able to land anywhere
in or around Puget Sound, including Bremerton. Make sure you've got a
good alternate somewhere else (and just getting on the other side of the
Cascades might not be sufficient...at this particular instant, it would be
good enough -- though still not good VFR -- but it can get just as foggy
over there sometimes).

On top of all this, forecasts for when the fog will dissipate cannot be
trusted. The fog could clear hours before they say it will, or it could
not clear at all. It's important to know the forecasts (and of course
current conditions), but I'd say that around here, fog-related forecasts
are about as unreliable as weather forecasts get (other than "there will
be fog" ), and that's saying something.

Sorry to not have better news. Hopefully, Boeing Field will remain a good
alternate. On the bright side, if you wind up landing in Seattle, you can
easily take a ferry from there to Bremerton. That's always fun.

Pete

On 2005-11-21, Mike Rapoport wrote:
We will be flying (hopefully) to Bremerton, WA (KPWT) on Wednesday

One thing it does have is a drive-in theater right next door. I felt
like a chump when I figured this out on my second trip through the
pattern on my commercial night VFR XC.

Tacoma Narrows is probably your second choice in bad weather, and
it's better than PWT right now:

KTIW 211653Z 00000KT 8SM OVC003 06/04 A3033 RMK AO2 SLP275 T00560044
KPWT 211635Z AUTO 01004KT M1/4SM OVC001 06/04 A3037 RMK AO1
KOLM 211646Z AUTO 08003KT 3SM BR OVC001 06/04 A3034 RMK AO2

Olympia (OLM) usually has the worst weather along my route when I fly
from the Portland area up to Seattle, but I don't usually check as far
NW as PWT.

--
Ben Jackson

http://www.ben.com/