How Pilots See Thunderstorms On Radar

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How Pilots See Thunderstorms On Radar

Thu, 10/12/2006 - 07:11 — Ray Stark

Many passengers have concerns about "those big thunderstorms along our route of flight." Here is how we Pilots see them on radar.

The first picture (click on pics to enlarge) is of the two storms sitting along our route of flight last month. Up front when it is clear and the thunderstorms are isolated (out in the open for all to see), we can just visually deviate around them as we fly along. We use a radar image to verify what we are seeing with our eyes and to better judge distance of the hazard ahead. When the storms are embedded inside clouds or other storm fronts we must rely on radar to be our eyes in the weather.

The second image is what the radar showed right at that instant.

The screen shows a "God's Eye" view as if you were looking from space down on the earth. The triangle at the bottom represents our airplane (right at the tip of the triangle) and the line in front of the plane is the track across the earth we will fly (073 degrees or northeast) . The top of the screen has the headings with 9 being 090 degrees or due east. KFSM is Fort Smith, AR and KSGF is Springfield, MO. Simple huh?

The pink line running to the right of our jet represents our original flight path that the autopilot was flying. Notice about 35-40 miles ahead of us on that heading was a big blotch of weather--the same two thunderstorms depicted in the previous picture above. Without deviating, we would have encounterd a thunderstorm cell.

The green indicates rain, with yellow indicating heavier rain, while red indicates intense rain showers and possible ice. We avoid red at all costs at flight level.

In this case, we simply asked Air Traffic Control to deviate north of our route to get around the weather, and once clear of the weather, we were cleared to fly direct to the start of the arrival for our destination. In the lower left of the radar picture you can barely make out 258/87. That is the jetstream wind blowing from the west (258 degrees) at 87 knots. Downwind of the thunderstorms, the ride got a little choppy due to the turbulence of the fast jet bubbling around the tall thunderstorms. We were at 41,000 feet, and the thunderstorms extended way above us.

See how simple this is? Reee-laaaax!!!!

Captain Ray Stark

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Comments

Does Southwest rely on any particular externally published teaching materials
about operating the weather radar?

Frank Ch. Eigler — Thu, 10/12/2006 - 14:55

Ray-

What a fantastic blog! I can tell you being a VERY Frequent Southwest Flyer that the pilots for Southwest are top notch. As a matter of fact, my other colleagues (that are frequent Southwesties, also) and I have actually had lengthy conversation about the cool calm and collected manner that your "kind" operate. We call it the "yeager" in you from obiviously Chuck Yeager. Thanks for being such a "Cool Cat" in the cockpit.

I will also tell you I appreciate every time you get me to my destination safely without a hitch. I always make it a point to tap on the cock pit door and say "Thanks, guys, Great Job!" every time I deplane. So next time you hear that please know that it is sincere. I hope I will see you on the next flight.

Keep up the good work!

Kelly

Kelly Cole — Thu, 10/12/2006 - 17:23

Frank,

Yes. I cannot remember the gentleman's name but our manual is an authorized copy of a portion of his training information. He pretty much wrote "the book" on radar usage. Sorry, the new edition of the manual does not mention his name.

Kelly,

Thanks for your kind comments. Believe you me, not many here at SWA think they are "Yeagers" but we appreciate the compliments just the same. After doing this for so long, the best advice I can give is "If you see us get worried, then you can worry. Otherwise, RELAX!

Ray

Ray Stark — Sun, 10/15/2006 - 23:28

Cap'n Ray --
Thanks for ANOTHER fantastic blog thread! You have an excellent way of putting things into layman's terms and helping to take some of the mystery out of the "front office" of the SWA jets.

I have a fair understanding of and familiarity with some of the avionics and procedures that you frequently describe from both my interest in aviation and time spent riding up front in my employer's Falcon 50 and chatting with our pilot and co-pilot. (in fact, our FA appreciates the break and the chance to sit in one of the passenger seats when I take "her" jumpseat up front, which isn't quite as comfy as the ones in the cabin!) Based on my experience, I enjoy reading your posts because I can see the correlation with procedures that I've observed in general aviation.

I've just gotten a copy of your book and shall eagerly look forward to reading it as it moves to the top of my 'to be read' pile. As much as I LUV being a passenger on SW, there are three things that I miss that I get to enjoy on our own "company plane" (to borrow a phrase from an old SWA marketing campaign) -- the first is that wonderful forward-facing view that you folks up front get, the second is having the headphones available to listen to the radio traffic and third is the TV screen "Airshow" display in our cabin that shows which cities we're flying over, distances to other cities and our final destination and flight envelope details such as altitude, outside temp, etc. Say, except for the front view, all of those other things are extras that SWA could wire into the cabins!

Thanks again for working so hard to keep us informed, and especially for the great job that y'all in the colorful and patriotic ties do for us up front!

Kim

Kim Seale — Mon, 10/16/2006 - 03:11

Ray,

Just had the same conversation last week re: the origins of the radar section of the FOM/FRM. Archie Trammell is the gentleman's name.

Nice writeup and good photos, by the way!

Josh Brehm
BWI FO

Josh Brehm — Mon, 10/16/2006 - 06:58

Kim,

Thanks for your kind comments. I know SWA has been looking at seatback entertainment systems but their cost for installation and recurring maintenance is insane. If technology lowers that cost it would be neat to see a moving map with ATC chatter as one of the channels. In the meantime, SWA passengers will have to live with, "And off to the left is Paducah, Iowa....I think.")

Josh,

Big thanks! Archie Trammell indeed!!!

Ray Stark — Thu, 10/19/2006 - 16:23

Thank you for making me feel better! I am a white knuckle flier. My first flight was in 1975 flying from Buffalo, NY to Chicago to Las Vegas, NV. When we took off from Chicago I thought we were going straight up in the air and then we heard a crash, followed by another crash. We were told the first crash was the landing gear doors closing. The second crash was a bag of ice falling on the floor. I thought the plane crashing was going to be the next sound!

Dr. Elaine Bukowski — Thu, 10/26/2006 - 04:03

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