Clouds

Clouds

• Clouds are the most visible means of determining the

local weather conditions
• Appearance can give indications of stability, the position of frontal systems,
moisture content, etc.
• They greatly impact how we fly, especially as VFR pilots
• Form when saturation is reached, causing water vapour to
condense into small droplets or ice crystals
Clouds

•Grouped into 4 families

• High “Cirro-”
• Bases at and above 20,000 feet ASL
• Middle “Alto-”
• Bases between 6,500 and 20,000 feet ASL
• Low
• Bases located between surface and 6,500 feet ASL
• Clouds of Vertical Development “Cumul-”
• Bases usually below 6,500 feet ASL, extending potentially to the tropopause
 Classification of Clouds
Cumulus Clouds
• form in rising air
• indicate unstable air
• “-cumulus”

Stratus Clouds
• form in horizontal layers
• layer of moist air is cooled below its saturation point
• “-stratus”

Nimbus Clouds
• Precipitation is falling
• “-nimbus” or “nimbo-”
 Clouds

Family Main Type Secondary Type

High Cirrus (CI)

(Bases at and above 20,000’ ASL)

“Cirro-” Cirrostratus (CS)

Cirrocumulus (CC)
Clouds

Family Main Type Secondary Type

Middle Altostratus (AS)

(Bases between 6,500’ and

20,000’ ASL)
Altocumulus (AC)
“Alto-”

Altocumulus Castellanus (ACC)

Clouds

Family Main Type Secondary Type

Low Stratus (ST)

(Between surface and 6,500’ ASL) Nimbostratus (NS)

Cumulus (CU)

Stratocumulus (SC)

Stratus Fractus (SF)

Cumulus Fractus (CF)

Clouds

Family Main Type Secondary Type

Clouds of Vertical Development Cumulus (CU)

“Cumul-”
Cumulonimbus (CB)

Towering Cumulus (TCU)

High Clouds

• Bases range from 20,000’ to

45,000’
• Average is about 25,000’
• Composed of ice crystals
• High Clouds have little affect on
flying
Cirrus (CI)

• Very high - up to 45,000’

• Thin wispy, feathery appearance
• Called cats’ whiskers or mares’
tails
• No significant icing; may be
turbulence in dense, banded
cirrus
Cirrocumulus (CC)

• Take the form of individual puffs.

• Often form in patchy groups
with spaces between the
individual members.
• Thin cloud layer
• Cotton or flake-like
• May contain highly super-cooled
water droplets resulting in some
turbulence and icing
Cirrostratus (CS)

• Continuous appearance than

other high altitude clouds.
• Typically so thin that you can
see the sun or the moon
through them.
• Indicates an approaching warm
front or occlusion
• Little if any icing, no turbulence,
restricted visibility
Middle Clouds

• “Alto-”
• Bases found between 6,500’ to
20,000’
• Composed of ice crystals and
water droplets most of which
are super-cooled
Altocumulus (AC)

• Series of patches of rounded

cotton-ball clouds
• Formed in unstable mid-level air
masses
• Usually do not indicate any
weather development
• Small amounts of icing, some
turbulence
Altocumulus Castellanus (ACC)

• Altocumulus with a turreted

appearance
• Indicates increased instability,
turbulence and possible
showers
• Might develop into
cumulonimbus
• Unstable air, rough turbulence
with some icing
Altostratus (AS)

• Thick grey cloud covering large

areas of the sky
• Indicates the approach of a
warm front
• Light rain or snow could fall from
the clouds
• Moderate amounts of icing, little
to no turbulence, restricted
sunlight
Lenticular

• Lens-shaped clouds
• Associated with strong winds blowing
over mountainous areas.
• The mountains cause a pattern of up
and down waves
• Lenticular clouds form in the wave
capping a prominent mountain peak,
or in the wave crests in the lee of the
mountain.
• It is not uncommon to have several
layers of lenticular clouds stacked on
top of each other.
• Very strong turbulence
Low Clouds

• Bases range from the surface to

6,500’
• Composed of water droplets
which may be super-cooled or
ice crystals
Stratus (ST)

• Fairly uniform light to dark grey

appearance
• Typically blankets large areas of the sky.
• Bases usually found near the ground to
around 6,500 feet.
• A stratus cloud with its base extending to
the ground is fog.
• Drizzle is likely
• Little or no turbulence, hazardous icing
conditions if temperatures are near or
below freezing, when associated with fog
or precipitation can create greatly
reduced visibility
Stratus Fractus (SF)

• Small, thin, unorganized tatters

of a stratus layer that typically
condense in the moisture
beneath nimbostratus or
cumulonimbus clouds.
• Pilots often refer to these clouds
as "scud".
• The bases of these clouds are
usually found near the ground to
around 6,500 feet
Stratocumulus (SC)

• Irregular masses of cumulus clouds

merged together with little or no
spacing between the clouds.
• May be in layers or patches
• Bases of these clouds are usually
found near the ground to around 6,500
feet
• Common in high pressure areas
• Some turbulence, possible icing at
subfreezing temperatures, ceiling and
visibility better than with low stratus
clouds
Nimbostratus (NS)

• Often called rain clouds

• Uniform dark grey appearance.
• Bottoms are typically blurred and indistinct
due to falling rain or snow.
• Precipitation is continuous
• Have low bases, but may have
considerable vertical development bringing
the tops into the middle level range
• Associated with warm fronts
• Very little turbulence, serious icing
problems if temperatures are near or
below freezing
Vertical Development Clouds

•Bases of range from 1,000 feet (or lower) to 10,000 feet or

higher.
•Composed of water droplets or ice crystals
•Usually contain super-cooled water above the freezing level.
•As a cumulus cloud grows to great heights, water in the
upper part of the cloud freezes into ice crystals forming a
cumulonimbus.
•May be isolated or embedded in layer clouds
Cumulus (CU)

• Thick, rounded, lumpy cotton balls

• Bases are normally flat
• Form during the day, disappear at
night
• Flight is usually bumpy near cumulus
• Called Cumulus Fractus (CF) when
they appear ragged
• Shallow layer of unstable air will give
some turbulence, but no significant
icing
Cumulus Fractus (CF)

• Small, thin, unorganized puffs that do

not exhibit the billowing form the
larger cumulus type.
• Dissipating cumulus clouds often
dissolve into cumulus fractus.
• They are sometimes referred to as
"scud" by pilots, though that term is
more often applied to stratus fractus.
• Bases usually found from near the
ground to around 6,500 feet.
Towering Cumulus (TCU)

• Also called Cumulus Congestus

• Unstable air causes strong vertical
convection currents
• Can cause cumulus cloud tops to grow
and billow upward beyond the range of
the low clouds into the middle cloud
altitudes.
• Early stage of a thunderstorm
• Very strong turbulence with rain
showers, some clear icing above
freezing level
Cumulonimbus (CB)

• Thunderstorm
• Extend well above the freezing level
• Top forms the shape of an anvil
• Violent vertical currents in and near the
cloud
• Hail is within the cloud and could fall
beneath it or outside of it
• Line of CBs indicates a cold front
• CBs could be embedded in stratus layers
• Should be avoided
• Unstable air throughout, violent
turbulence, strong possibility for icing
Cumulonimbus
Cumulus Mammatus

• Cellular pattern of pouches

hanging underneath the base of
a cloud
• Often associated with the anvil
cloud that extends from a
cumulonimbus
• When occurring in
cumulonimbus, indicate a
particularly strong storm
Calculating cloud base

• Surface temperature = 15 Celsius

• Dew point = 5 Celsius
• CYKF = 1050 ASL
• 15 – 5 = 10/2.5=4000 feet AGL
• 4000 AGL + elevation of 1050 = 5050 ASL
• Temperature at 5050 ASL = 15 – 2 degrees per 1000 = 2 x 4 = 8. 15 –
8 = 7 Celsius.
• Easier method for calculating cloud base would be to determine the
spread between surface temperature and dew point and multiply by
400
Fog
Fog

•Ground level cloud

•Large impact on aviation
• Can sometimes see through fog
from above, then have it appear
to thicken when approaching to
land
• Vertical Visibility vs Slant
Range Visibility
• Visibility < 5/8 sm
Fog

•Can be composed of:

• Small water droplets
• Ice crystals
• Super-cooled water droplets
• Combination thereof
•Three important factors lead to fog
• High Relative Humidity
• Condensation Nuclei
• A process to cause the temperature / dewpoint spread to reduce to zero
High Relative Humidity

•Air near the surface must be at or near saturation

• Spread of <4°C
Condensation Nuclei

•Water vapour requires a particle to condense on to

• Dust
• Pollen
• Volcanic Ash
• Sea Salt
• Pollution
Temperature/Dewpoint Change

•Can happen two ways

1. Cooling air to the dew point
2. Adding moisture to raise the dew point
Fog

•Types are named according to the process that creates

them
• Radiation Fog
• Advection Fog
• Upslope Fog
• Steam Fog (Arctic Sea Smoke)
• Frontal Fog (Precipitation Fog)
• Ice Fog
Radiation Fog

• Best known type

• Typically forms at night, requires
• clear skies
• Light winds
• Stable air
• Caused by radiation cooling
• Surface transfers heat to lowest layers of air mass, then that air transfers heat to layer
above, etc
• Air mass cools from the ground up
• Inversion
• As air cools, it reaches saturation and condensation occurs
• Light winds help spread the cooling
• If the winds are too light, water will condense on surface (dew)
• If the winds are too strong, cooling effect will be too diffuse – air will not reach saturation
Radiation Fog

• As sun rises, surface

begins to warm, fog near
the surface dissipates
• As warming continues,
radiation fog will “burn off”
• If a cloud layer has
moved in overnight, fog
can dissipate much more
gradually
Advection Fog

•Warm, moist air travels over cooler land or water surface

•As long as warm air continues to flow over the surface,
advection fog will persist
• Does not “burn off”
•Wind speeds up to 15 knots provide maximum thickness
• Can still occur in much stronger winds, provided temperature difference
between air mass and surface is intense
Advection Fog

• Tends to occur in maritime areas

• Can also occur behind a warm
front advancing on a very cold air
mass
• Can persist for days, until the
wind direction changes or the
surface warms
Upslope Fog

• Light winds push warm, moist air upslope

• Cools adiabatically and condenses into fog
Steam Fog

Cold air passes over warm

water
Evaporation occurs,
increasing the dewpoint
and cooling the air
Fog forms
Occurs over rivers and
lakes
 Frontal (Precipitation) Fog

Rain or drizzle adds moisture

to the air through evaporation
Evaporation also cools the air
Happens with warm fronts
 Ice Fog

• Moist air on an extremely

cold day
• Addition of water vapour to
air increases dewpoint
• Sublimation of water vapour
forms ice crystals
• Vapour trails in the sky
 Valley Fog

• A version of radiation fog

• Cold air drains down
mountain side
• Cools air in valley to
dewpoint
Haze

• Microscopic water
droplets, dust, or salt
particles suspended in
the air
• Pollution makes haze
worse
• Stable air only
• Appears bluish, dirty
yellow, or orange
• Can severely limit flight
visibility
 Sky Condition & Visibility

• Amount of cloud cover

• Clear (0/8)
• Few (1-2/8)
• Scattered (3-4/8)
• Broken (5-7/8)
• Overcast (8/8)
• Ceiling is first layer of Broken or
Overcast
Sky Condition & Visibility

• VFR operations require 3 miles

visibility
• Visibility can be reduced by
• Cloud
• Precipitation
• Fog
• Haze
• Smoke
• Snow or blowing snow
• Visibility tends to be less in
stable air
 VMC & IMC

• Visual meteorological conditions

(VMC)
• Ceiling, distance from clouds, and visibility are
equal or better than the minimum required for
VFR flight
• Instrument meteorological conditions
(IMC)
• Ceiling, distance from clouds, or visibility are
less than the minimum required for VFR flight
• Flight must be IFR
Precipitation

In clouds at above freezing temperatures, water droplets combine and

become heavy and fall to the earth
Vertical movement causes droplets to collide
Called Coalescence
Various forms of precipitation
Precipitation

In clouds with temperatures

below freezing, ice crystals and
water droplets exist at the same
level
The water droplets evaporate
and the water vapour sublimates
onto the ice crystals
If it is cold, it will fall as snow
If there is warm air below, the
ice crystals melt and fall as
rain
Heavy precipitation indicates
significant vertical development
to above the freezing level
Precipitation

Drizzle
Very small drops of water,
fairly uniform
Maximum diameter 0.5 mm
Fall very slowly, appearing
to float down, and form no
rings on puddles.
Limited vertical movement
within the cloud
Usually from stratus clouds
Precipitation

Rain
Larger drops than drizzle
Diameter over 0.5 mm
Form rings on puddles
Freezing rain is super-
cooled water droplets that
freeze upon contact
Precipitation

Hail
Large vertical development clouds
have layers
Lower layer – water
Middle – water and ice
Top – Ice crystals
In the middle layer super-cooled water
droplets and ice crystals collide
forming soft ice balls
When it falls through a water region it
picks up water and freezes
Finally falls out of cloud as hail
Larger hail means greater vertical
currents in the cloud
Precipitation

Snow Pellets
White, opaque ice particles
Soft hail
If the water region is not thick, a
hard shell will not freeze on the
pellet
Snow
Water vapour sublimates directly
to ice crystals which join to form
snow flakes
Precipitation and Cloud Type

Precipitation Cloud
Drizzle, freezing drizzle, granular snow Stratus, stratocumulus
Snow, rain - steady or intermittent Nimbostratus, thick altostratus, altocumulus,
stratocumulus
Snow flurries, rain showers Cumulonimbus, cumulus congestus, altocumulus
castellanus
Snow pellets, sleet showers Cumulonimbus, cumulus congestus
Steady sleet Nimbostratus, altostratus, altocumulus,
stratocumulus
Hail Cumulonimbus
Ice Prisms Clear sky
Air Masses

• An air mass is a large section of

the troposphere with uniform
properties of temperature and
moisture in the horizontal
• It takes on the properties of the
surface where it forms
• May be modified by the surface it
moves across
• Weather determined by
• moisture content
• cooling process
• stability
 North American Air Masses

1. Continental Arctic cA
 Cold dry air mass from the far
North (permafrost) in winter
2. Continental Polar cP
 Cool dry air mass from not as
far North or a modified cA
3. Maritime Arctic mA
 Cold wet air mass
 Formed over the Arctic in
summer
 In winter cA moves South and
picks up moisture over the
North Atlantic or North Pacific
North American Air Masses

4. Maritime Polar mP
 Moves farther South over
the ocean and is warmed
as it picks up moisture
5. Maritime Tropical mT
 Formed in the warm, moist
sections of North America
(Caribbean, Pacific)
6. Continental Tropical cT
 Formed over warm, dry
section of North America
(Mexico)
 Only in summer
Air Masses

•Seasonal Variation in Canada

Summer
Winter
Fronts

• Air masses tend not to

mix
• Cold, dense air does not
mix well with warmer,
less dense air
• Boundary between air
masses is called a front
Fronts

• At their borders, air

masses mix only slightly
• Temperature remains fairly
uniform in each air mass
• There will be a large
temperature change in an
area about 50 – 100 miles
wide between the air
masses
• This is called the frontal
zone
Types of Fronts

Cold Front
Cold air is advancing
blue lines with triangles on
maps
Warm Front
Cold air is retreating
red lines with semi-circles on
maps
Stationary Front
When the cold air is neither
advancing or retreating
Alternating symbols on maps
Polar Front

• A dome of cold air covers polar regions

• A warm air mass covers equatorial regions

• The two air masses meet in the temperate

regions but do not mix

• Transition called Polar Front

Polar Front

• There are several air

mass domes over the
pole
• First is Continental Arctic
• Then Maritime Arctic
• Then Continental Polar
• Then Maritime Polar
Boundary between mP and
mT is the Polar Front
Frontal Waves

• Form along any of the

air mass fronts
• On both sides of the
front, the wind is blowing
parallel to the front but
in opposite directions
Frontal Waves

• A disturbance will cause

a bend
• Disturbances include:
• Cold air pushing against
warm air
• Warm air pushing against
cold air
• Pressure differences
• Terrain
Frontal Waves

• A counter-clockwise
circulation develops
• One part becomes a
warm front
• The other becomes a
cold front
• Called a Frontal Wave
Frontal Waves

• The circulation becomes

stronger and the two
fronts move
• Low pressure area
forms
Frontal Waves

The cold front moves

faster than the warm front
Occlusion begins
Frontal Waves

When the cold front

catches up to the warm
front, the two fronts close
together (occlude)
Frontal Waves

And finally dissipates

 Frontal Waves

•Typical track of a Frontal Wave

The Warm Front

• The edge of an advancing warm

air mass is a warm front
• Warm air is overtaking and
replacing cold air
• Cold air is denser and hugs the
ground
• Warm air slides up over the cold
air and lacks direct push
• Because of this, the cold air
retreats slowly
• Produces a gradual frontal slope
• Clouds can form up to 500 miles
ahead of a warm front
Graphic Warm Front
 The Warm Front

Clouds and Weather at

a Moist Stable Warm
Front
Cirrus
Cirrus Stratus
Alto Stratus
Nimbo Stratus
Stratus
Precipitation will fall
ahead of front
May be heavy rain
The Warm Front

Clouds and Weather at a Moist

Unstable Warm Front
Cumulonimbus will be embedded in
clouds
Heavy showers ahead of the surface
front
Weather at the Warm Front

Changes are gradual; might Click icon to add picture

cover a large area
Wind will veer (change
direction to the right)
• Temperature – gradual rise
• Visibility – low ceilings and
poor visibility at the front
• Turbulence minimal unless
cumulonimbus are
embedded
• Precipitation – begins well
ahead of the front and gets
heavier as front approaches
– very heavy means Cb.
The Winter Warm Front

• Different areas of the

front have varying
precipitation
• Good to notice while
flying: What could be
ahead?
The Cold Front
• Leading edge of advancing cold air is
a cold front

• At the surface cold air is overtaking

the warm air

• Friction from ground: Teardrop

shape

• Cumulus clouds form because of

warm air being pushed up quickly
• Narrow band of cloud (50 miles)
• Thunderstorm may develop

• A fast moving front might have a

Squall Line if the front is undercutting
unstable air
Graphic Cold Front
Cold Front – Moist Stable Air
Cold Front – Moist, Unstable Air
Cold Front – Dry Air
Cold Front

May bring Freezing

Rain and Icing
 Weather at the Cold Front
Wind:
• Veers Click icon to add picture
• Becomes gusty
Temp:
• Drops slowly, over hours
Visibility:
• Improves after the cold front has passed
Pressure:
• decrease as the front approaches, rises
quickly after the passage
Turbulence:
• Present if convective activity
Precipitation:
• Narrow band of showers
 Stationary Front

• No motion between
warm and cold air
masses
• Winds are parallel to the
front
• Usually weaken and
dissipate
• Weather is like at a
warm front
Occluded Front

As the cold front overtakes

the warm air mass it
eventually catches up with
itself as it flows around the
low pressure area
 Occluded Front

• May be cold type or

warm type
• Weather is similar to a
warm front in either case
• May be thunderstorms if
warm air is unstable
https://youtu.be/o4lg8U
fY5DM
Warm Occlusion
TROWAL

• At an occluded front all

of the warm air is lifted
up.
• Called a TROWAL
(TRough Of Warm air
ALoft)
• Usually some form of
precipitation
Upper Fronts

Upper Cold Front

Advancing cold front meets
other colder air and rises
up over the colder air
Cold front is now an upper
cold front
Upper Warm Front
Warm air rises up over
colder surface air
 Icing
• When super-cooled water hits
an aircraft, it will freeze and
stick to the airplane
• Ice affects all parts of the
aircraft
Icing

Clear Ice
• Large drops freeze slowly
• Clear, glassy, hard
• Forms on leading edge and
spreads backwards over the
wing surface

• Forms in:
• clouds (typically vertical
development) and precipitation
• temperatures just below
freezing
Icing

Rime Ice
• Small droplets freeze
rapidly
• Opaque, whitish, granular,
brittle due trapped air
• Weighs less than clear, but
disrupts flow more
Forms:
• In cloud (typically layered
cloud, stable air)
• On leading edge, but does
not spread back
Icing

Mixed Icing
• Combination of Clear
and Rime
• Snow and water
droplets
• Severe icing occurs in
Cumulus cloud
• Less severe icing in
Stratus cloud
Effects of Icing

Wings & Control Pitot Tubes & Static

Surfaces Ports
• Ice alters shape • Blocked
• Tail plane especially Radio Antennae
susceptible to ice • Reduces transmission
Propellers efficiency
• Reduction in thrust • could cause them to break
• May put blades out of off
balance Carburetors & Air Intakes
Windscreens • Could reduce air-flow to
• Visibility reduced the point of engine
stoppage
Icing

De-Icing Equipment
De-icing Boots expand to
break ice
Heated wings, props,
windshield
Fluid released through
leading edge or onto prop
Icing

Icing Intensity
Severe
de-icing equipment cannot keep up

Moderate
may have to alter altitude or divert

Light
normally not a problem for a short duration

Intensity depends on type of aircraft

and type of de-icing equipment
Icing

Avoidance
• De-icing equipment is meant to give you some If you encounter icing:
time to escape, not for continued flight in icing • Turn around
• Even aircraft certified for “flight in known icing” • Descend to warmer
are usually only tested in light icing conditions
air
• Monitor OAT gauge
• Climb
• Avoid flying in cloud at temperatures near
freezing • File a PIREP
Frost

Aircraft parked outside on

a clear, cold night
May be frost or frozen dew
Any frost or frozen dew
MUST be removed before
flight
Layer similar to coarse
sandpaper (thickness and
roughness) can reduce lift by
30%, and increase drag by
40%!
Thunderstorms

Extremely hazardous for

flying
Thunder, lightening, strong
vertical drafts, severe gusts
and turbulence
To form a thunderstorm there
must be:
• High moisture content
• Unstable (steep) lapse rate
• Lifting action
Life Cycle of a Thunderstorm

Lasts only about 30

minutes

Winds in the storm

Life Cycle of a Thunderstorm

• Continuous thunderstorms are the result

of a series of storms that develop in rapid
succession without a break between
 Cumulus Stage of a Thunderstorm

• Most cumulus clouds do not grow into

a thunderstorm
• Strong updraft is required to grow the
cloud into Towering Cumulus
• Unstable air – warmer than
surrounding air
• Updraft may exceed 3000’/minute
• Water droplets grow to rain drop size
but remain suspended by updrafts
• Lasts about 10 minutes
Cumulus Stage of a Thunderstorm

Note lapse rates in

unstable air
 Mature Stage of a Thunderstorm
• The appearance of precipitation indicates mature stage
• Buildup can reach 60,000 feet
• Updrafts to 6000’/minute
• The updrafts carry the water droplets up into freezing areas
• After the droplets grow large enough to fall they take cold air down with them creating
a downdraft
• Up to 2000’/minute
• Violent turbulence in the up and down drafts
• Top forms an anvil shaped cloud
• Created by updrafts and winds that carry the cloud ahead of the storm
• Lasts 15 – 20 minutes
• Lightning, downbursts, gust front, wind shear, hail, tornadoes are possible
Dissipating Stage of a Thunderstorm
• As the rain falls, it cools
the lower part of the
cloud and it loses energy
• Downdrafts spread
throughout the cloud
except near the top
• Motion is mostly
downward
• Sometimes strong gusts
during this phase
• Rain ceases
• Still some lightning
Types of Thunderstorm

Air Mass
Convective lift
Singly or in clusters on hot, humid
summer day
Tend to be scattered
Frontal
Usually cold front, but also possible
at warm front
Often form a line that may be
hundreds of miles long
Often embedded in other clouds
Orographic
Air is forced upward by hills or
mountains
Thunderstorm Weather

Wind Shear
• Found on all sides
of the cell
• In the down draft
under the cell
• In the gust front
ahead of storm
Thunderstorm Weather

Gust Front
• At the mature stage,
strong downdrafts spread
out ahead of storm
• Similar to a miniature
cold front
• Can change wind
direction 180° and speed
by 50 knots in a matter of
seconds
Thunderstorm Weather

Downburst
• Strong downdraft of cold
air pouring out of the
cloud base capable of
damaging winds on the
ground
• Spreads out rapidly
• Often occurs in the
dissipating stage
• Can be wet or dry
Thunderstorm Weather

Macroburst Click icon to add picture

Downburst at least 2.5 NM dia. lasting 5
to 20 minutes
Squall line
Microburst
Downburst smaller size than macroburst
Single thunderstorm cell
May contain Virga
Hazards
Up to 6000’/minute down
Gusts to 80KT
Change direction and speed rapidly
Up to 20 miles from the storm
Thunderstorm Weather

Shelf Cloud Click icon to add picture

• area of strong downdraft
wind and outflow, moving
away from main
precipitation area
• Form near leading edge of
thunderstorm or under rain-
free cloud base
• Long wedge shaped clouds
associated with the gust
front
• Often confused with a wall
cloud
Thunderstorm Weather

Wall cloud Click icon to add picture

• Signifies the area of
strongest updraft
• Lowering cloud attached to
the rain-free base
• Rotation of the persistent
low cloud may be
observed
• Most likely area for funnel
cloud or tornado
development
Thunderstorm Weather

Tornado
Violently rotating column of
air descending from a
thunderstorm in contact
with the ground
Funnel cloud
Rotating funnel shaped
cloud extending from the
base of a thunderstorm but
not touching the ground
Thunderstorm Weather

Hail
• Severe hazard
• Mature stage
• Need strong updrafts
into the freezing layer
Thunderstorm Weather

Lightning
• Up and down drafts
generate static charges
within the cloud
• When build up enough
energy they discharge
• Within the cloud
• Cloud to ground
• Cloud to cloud
Thunderstorm Weather

Thunder Icing Pressure change

Noise from the lightning At or above the freezing Falls rapidly ahead of storm,
discharge level in heavy turbulence rises quickly when rain starts
during mature stage and returns to normal as storm
subsides
Time difference between
lightning and thunder indicates
how far away the storm is
Thunderstorm Dangers

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Turbulence
Up and down drafts in and
under the cloud
Up to 20 miles away from
cloud
Loss of control, structural
damage
Thunderstorm Dangers

Lightning
• Radio interference
• Lightning blindness
• Lightning strike
• Structural damage,
electrical damage,
possibly ignite fuel
vapors
Hail
Structural damage
Thunderstorm Dangers

Icing on the airframe

• Aircraft performance
Pressure change
• Performance of the altimeter
Rain
• Contaminate wing surfaces
• Reduce and distort visibility
• Hydroplaning on runway
Thunderstorm Dangers

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Strong winds
• Abrupt changes in speed and
direction – wind shear,
change head wind to tail wind
• Rising air being sucked into
the storm forms a vortex –
may create a tornado
Thunderstorm Avoidance

• DO NOT attempt to • Do not take off or land in vicinity

penetrate any • Downbursts
thunderstorm • Virga – may be microburst in this area
• Gust front
• Stay at least 5 miles up to
20 miles away depending
• Do not fly under – severe
on size of storm turbulence and down drafts
• Try to fly around the right • Reduce to manoeuvring speed
side - tailwind
Thunderstorm Detection

Lightning Detector
• Detects the electromagnetic
discharge
• Plots direction and range of
every discharge within 200
mile radius
• Does not detect rain
Weather Radar
• Detects rain fall
• Sees only ahead in a narrow
band
• Plots direction, range, and
intensity of rain
 Weather Signs

Look for cloudy unsettled Click icon to add picture

weather
• Barometer falling
• Temperature at night
higher than usual
• Clouds move in different
directions at different
heights
• Cirrus clouds increasing.
• Ring around the sun until
overcast thickens
Weather Signs

Look for steady precipitation

• There have been signs of
unsettled weather
• Wind is South or Southeast &
pressure falling
• Within a day if falling slowly
• Soon if falling rapidly
• Wind is Southeast to
Northeast & pressure falling
• Thunderstorms develop with
South or Southeast wind
Weather Signs

Look for showers

Thunderstorms develop
with westerly wind
Cumulus clouds develop
rapidly in early afternoon in
spring or summer
 Weather Signs

Look for clearing

•The barometer rises
•Wind shifts to West or
Northwest
•The temperature falls
Weather Signs

Look for continued bright

weather
• You can look directly at the sunset
• The barometer is steady or rising
slowly
• Clouds decrease in later
afternoon
• Morning fog breaks within 2 hours
after sunrise
• Light breeze from West or
Northwest
• Red sunset
Weather Signs

Look for higher temperatures

•The barometer falls
• In summer there may be clouds
that will result in cooler weather
•Wind changes away from North
or West
•Morning sky is clear except
• Barometer high or rising in winter
• Strong wind from North or West
 Weather Signs
Look for lower temperatures
• Wind changes from
Southwest to West or from
West to Northwest or North
• Clearing skies
• In the winter the barometer
rises
• Snow with a West or North
wind
• Pressure is low or falling
rapidly, wind East or
Northeast changing slowly to
North