Dry Line

bobmrg

bobmrg

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Gone West
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Bob Gardner
If you want to read a sphincter-puckering story about a weather encounter, go to www.flyingmag.com/dryline and read the article by Margaret Lamb. It contains really important information for pilots who fly in or through the Graet Plains states.

I'll admit that I had heard the term "dry line" before but never recognized its importance.

Bob Gardner
 
If you spend much time in western Oklahoma or the Texas panhandle then "dry line" is pretty much indelibly etched into the memory neurons. A lot of (most?) of the severe thunderstorm activity in that area comes from the dry lines which form as a cold front pushes down off the high plains.

I think the Jeppsen book explains dry lines fairly well. The "think" here is that I remember reading about it and "think" it was Jeppsen but it coulda been some other source.
 
Yep, they're interesting, that's why I always stay underneath them so I can see what's happening in the clouds.
 
The dry line prog chart in the article was from 6/20/13. I was delivering a Maule from Seattle to Virginia at that time. Departing Santa Fe on June 18, I was headed for Norman, Oklahoma but severe thunderstorms blocked my way even though I started early in the morning. I was seriously kicked around, even though the storms were off in the distance. I was able to divert to Dalhart, TX to check weather from the FBO, and regroup. It looked like heading further north would allow me to get around the northern edge of the worst of the storms predicted for the next couple of days. We spent a night in North Platte, NE and then headed east through Indiana where the plane was tossed like a rag doll again before escaping to the south and another night in Muncie, IN. I am a firm believer in keeping escape routes alive and well, even if they mean blowing schedules. I was tossed hard enough that my headset was ripped off of my head, and I was nowhere near the most violent air. The center part of the country can be downright evil when it comes to summer weather!
 
Many long distance sailplane flights have been flown along the dryline, particularly by Wally Scott from Odessa, TX to points north from the early 60's through the early 90's. He made several flights to Nebraska. Powerful weather.
 
Ok, so I read the article, which seemed to be all about crashes due to down drafts in mountain waves in Colorado.

I am confused. I still don't know what a dry line is, or what it has to do with these mountain-wave down drafts. Is it some kind of editing error?
 
NoHeat said:
Ok, so I read the article, which seemed to be all about crashes due to down drafts in mountain waves in Colorado.

I am confused. I still don't know what a dry line is, or what it has to do with these mountain-wave down drafts. Is it some kind of editing error?
Click to expand...

The link is actually to the LAST page of the article, with a couple of pictures and a link to the Downdraft article.

Scroll down a bit until you see the usual "1 2 3 4 Next" links, and click "1".

Ron Wanttaja
 
Storm chasers here in CO absolutely LOVE it when they hear that there's a dry-line setting up just East of Denver with moist unstable air on one side, and dry air on the other in the summertime... big bad boomers start about 3PM and don't stop until they're past Jesse in Nebraska, many hours into the night...
 
Foreflight has Dew Point Spread in the drop down menu. Use it this spring. If you see a spread of a few degrees next to one of 20 or more, there is your dry line. The bigger the spread the more violent the weather .
 
Texastaildragger said:
Foreflight has Dew Point Spread in the drop down menu. Use it this spring. If you see a spread of a few degrees next to one of 20 or more, there is your dry line. The bigger the spread the more violent the weather .
Click to expand...


Yes but...

Not always.

I've been skunked on chase days by a lack of instability on either side of a dry line. Just a big ol' blob of wet air wandering slowly East and not mixing.

Usually in the summer the solar heating provides the instability. A widespread overcast or haze can kill the heating... no lifting... and you just watch the visibility go to crap on the wet side of the line.

Your scenario is more common but anyone who's sat in Eastern Colorado wishing for something to make a dry line "pop" and been disappointed learns t-storms still need atmospheric instability to get started.

Often the "pop" happens along the dry line but not always...
 
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