Weather Hazards

 Aviation Weather Hazard

    Well, the funny thing about this topic is that I'm concurrently taking Meteorology I with this class.  We've covered multiple types of clouds, thunderstorms, tornados, and up to hurricanes.  While some of these were obvious that you wouldn't fly through them, the one system that I thought posed the biggest threat to aviation was the mid-latitude cyclone.  If you live in Florida up to Tennessee, you've experienced this recently.  When the mid-latitude cyclone is in its mature stage the higher pressure cold front is pushing the lower pressure warm front toward the northeast (Ahrens, 2022).  The picture below is an example of a mid-latitude cyclone in the mature stage. This system causes a lot of temperature and pressure differences which affect engine performance and lift of the aircraft.  While pressure changes aren't really a big factor, it does make the pilots stay on their toes and pay attention to altimeter settings.  Along with this, thunderstorms, hail, and tornados can be formed from a mid-latitude system which can definitely bring down an aircraft.  Another factor is the high shifting winds.  The winds from the cold front tend to blow east and as it gets closer to the low-pressure system they start to rotate counterclockwise.  Depending on the size and performance of the aircraft this could wreak havoc.  So in the end a mid-latitude cyclone poses many threats to aviation. 

Ahrens, C. D., & Henson, R. (2022). Meteorology today: An introduction to weather, climate, and the environment. Cengage.