tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7478606652950905956.post8710314600565889938..comments2024-03-18T22:50:29.792-07:00Comments on Cliff Mass Weather Blog: A Corrugated Cold FrontCliff Mass Weather Bloghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13948649423540350788noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7478606652950905956.post-58980992009322766072013-09-25T13:24:32.912-07:002013-09-25T13:24:32.912-07:00"The NOAA P3 pilots agreed...they had been th..."The NOAA P3 pilots agreed...they had been through many hurricanes... Well, the passage through the core at around 2000 ft was very, very intense--with several g's up and down and the coffee pot broke off in the rear of the aircraft and life rafts pulled out from under the seats."<br /><br />Yes, we went in low... At night... the only thing we could see in that blackness was the St Elmos sparking blue across the windscreen, and an occasional flash of far off lightning. I was in the right seat, Cdr Phil Kennedy was in the left. The G-meter sits in front of the copilot. The nose radar showed a sharp gradient from nothing to the Red Stuff (with a few flecks of purple). Phil & I knew it was going to be rough, so we had everyone tighten belts & lock harnesses.... then, Whamm! You hit it and take your beating... the G-meter went instantly to +5, then to -2Gs. Negative Gs are very bad, that front was trying to push us into the water....so go to full power, climb back up and push on through... those bands were narrow, so we were back to normal in a couple of wrestling minutes. Now check for damage, the crew reports only minor stuff, a coffee pot, a loose life raft and a few things tossed around, nothing we hadn't seen before. Our guests(scientists) weren't that happy, especially the new ones, they'd never been roughed up like that... But our old pros (like Brad Smull, Robert Houze and of course you Cliff) weren't fazed, you'd seen all this stuff before flying with us on other projects. And the P-3 Orion, what a great aircraft, lots of power and a tough, strong airframe; it could take the beating when us on the inside could not... So it's time to turn around and head back in on the next pass, maybe we'll pick a little softer spot in the convection, just to let the newbies get their stomachs back on line... and ten hours later you land back in Seattle, another COAST flight complete.<br /><br />Yes, we'd fly into the red stuff (on the radar) just about everywhere - except one place - Tornado Alley - you will come out in little pieces if you tried that stunt there...Big Wavehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12818648672772663106noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7478606652950905956.post-10461859598831171542013-09-25T10:40:44.831-07:002013-09-25T10:40:44.831-07:00Cliff's story about crashing through the front...Cliff's story about crashing through the front reminds me of Jeff Masters' description of being hammered by a hurricane, threatened by flying soda cans. C-130: what a great aircraft! No coffee pot can stand up to the same punishment.<br /><br />Cliff, according to NWS we're likely to get a bunch of precipitation this weekend. What's the backstory on that? Should we tune up our sump pumps?dbostromhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13885863615343906724noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7478606652950905956.post-47994238304166279222013-09-24T01:18:04.508-07:002013-09-24T01:18:04.508-07:00It kinda looks like the threading on a very long s...It kinda looks like the threading on a very long screw. Like the clouds may be rotating horizontally or rolling over themselves as they move. Brad J Tankersleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01883768653250436181noreply@blogger.com