One of your pilot's most important
tasks before take-off is to get a thorough weather
briefing. When I was learning to fly (that's another
story), I really gained an appreciation for the weather.
Did you know that the latent heat released by a moderate
thundercloud is equivalent to the energy of a nuclear
explosion of 400 kilotons! Natures awesome display of
power is not to be taken for granted!
A weather
disaster that I will never forget was the
Great Flood
of 1993. During the spring of 1993, unprecedented rain
and storms throughout the Midwest started the Great
Flood, flooding 11 million acres of farms, communities,
roads, killing more than 50 people, and dislocating
millions from their homes. In federal funds alone $12
billion dollars were spent. This devastation directly
affected one quarter of the land area of the continental
United States. It was a lot of water!
Everyone in this area had been watching the progress of
the flood for weeks on television as it inched closer and
closer to the St. Louis area. In July, the water was
about to reach the Spirit of St.Louis Airport - people
spent the day evacuating.Several hundred airplanes had to
be evacuated. At 10:00 p.m. the Monarch Levee(Mo. River)
broke. By dawn the airport and six miles of farms,
businesses, and homes were covered by 15 feet of water.
The entire day was spent watching television of dramatic
helicopter rescues, farm houses being swept away,
sandbagging efforts, and on and on. I don't think I will
ever see Mother Nature's impact like that again! Another
reminder to never take the weather for granted!
Sources for weather information
abound on the Internet. Take a
look at some of these for your local forecast as well as
national,
and international weather. Some are very helpful in
gaining an
understanding of the weather and how to read various
weather
maps
|
