Weather

Without a doubt, the western United States offers the best VFR flying in the nation. This is partly why the military has its air...

The United States. “What a country!” as comedian Yakov Smirnoff once said. It’s equipped with first-class observation systems, sophisticated forecast models, and a lively...

Pilots have to keep up with quite a bit of knowledge. There are regulations, procedures, chart symbology, various engineering disciplines, and many others. For...

If you’ve ever faced a go/no-go decision with tantalizing blue sky above a low layer of fog, you know that departing IFR is an...

Whether you’re in meteorology school or ground school, the tornado undoubtedly captures the attention. I’ve often noticed how a room goes silent when a...

There’s no phenomena that shapes the flying experience quite like wind. It’s almost always present in some form. A crosswind makes for tricky landings,...

Scenic trips over the mountains out west often require creative flight planning. The smaller the aircraft, the more “scenic” the trip. That’s the whole...

From the 1930s until the 1980s, many pilots got their weather briefings from a meteorologist at a flight service station or airline dispatch counter....

You’ve probably heard someone tossing around the term “GOES satellite” at one time or another. This refers to a NOAA satellite program that has...

Strong thunderstorms are one of the places aviation and fear often intersect. And for good reason: severe storms have led to countless disasters, perhaps...

Now that we’re staring at the weather picture from the depths of winter, perhaps you've been re-acquainted with how fronts make an impact on...

You’re flying along, listening to a controller issue instructions to many aircraft. From one second to the next, you suddenly start hearing a different...