Spokane Chapter

January 18,    Winter Weather Hazards

Winter weather can result in a lot of different hazards. No more so to pilots flying their airplanes. In this talk, I will describe how weather systems are formed and where they typically come from and why they do so. Large scale weather events that span across hundreds of miles occur with what are referred to as mid latitude cyclones. These cyclones are associated with areas of low pressure that ride the Polar Jet Stream. The orientation of the jet stream will play a big role on the weather types that we see. Not all of our winter weather occurs with mid latitude cyclones though. Smaller scale features on the order of tens of miles also can produce impactful weather. Forcing mechanisms for weather disturbances on this scale are commonly referred to as perturbations or low pressure areas on the mesoscale. I will discuss synoptically forced precipitation with mid latitude cyclones along with precipitation forced on the mesoscale. How pilots can use satellite, radar, and automated weather instrumentation to identify these patterns and keep themselves weather ready.

Steven Van Horn has a Master’s Degree in Atmospheric Science from the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA).   His National Weather Service career began at the Los Angeles/Oxnard office as a Student Career Experience Program (SCEP) student.  He was hired on as a Meteorologist Intern at the Spokane Weather Forecast Office in January of 2009 and then promoted to a forecaster position in May of 2012.  Steven is the aviation program leader at the Spokane Weather Forecast Office. In his spare time, he enjoys adventuring: camping, hiking, rock climbing and snowboarding. He also has a son that he loves to share his adventures with. 

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WINGS credit:   https://www.faasafety.gov/wings/pub/learn_more.aspx