Flying in Florida

[teethdoc]

With Florida so flat, on a cloudy day, where do the bottoms normally hang out? I know here in Alabama, they clouds on a partly cloudy day (ie, every afternoon) hang out around 3-4k.

 

[douglas393]

Florida is not flat, there are some hills,(oh wait those are speed bumps).:wink2:
To answer your question, for the most part, I have not really seen any predictable pattern to the ceilings in Florida. Typically in the early morning(before 0800) we will have overcast with ceilings at 2000 ft or slightly lower, but they typically burn off quickly. Occassionally morning fog, but again it typically burns off quickly. Many mornings however are clear or near about. In the afternoon, thunderstorms hit, but they are typically small cells and usually fairly easy to avoid. Once the summer hear ends(typically about November) the thunderstorms become less an issue. However, my experience as stated before is that the ceilings tend to be pretty variable, and except for the rare occassion you probably can fly VFR almost everyday in FLorida(at least my small section of it).

 

[JOhnH]

I have found that the bottoms usually hang out in Gainesville and Jacksonville.
Those two cities can be IFR when every other city in the nation is VFR.

 

[teethdoc]

I'm trying to make a decision to fly into KISM Saturday VFR. I'm leaning towards driving, but the prospect of a 10h drive vs 3h in the Mooney sucks. I have got to make time to get my instrument ticket.

 

[upstateny]

Florida is not flat, there are some hills,(oh wait those are LAND FILLS).:wink2:

FTFY

 

[Bill]

Keep an eye on the progs, but the Friday 8pm (48hr) prog is not encouraging.

 

[rbridges]

I'm trying to make a decision to fly into KISM Saturday VFR. I'm leaning towards driving, but the prospect of a 10h drive vs 3h in the Mooney sucks. I have got to make time to get my instrument ticket.

Get to it. Having a dental practice is no excuse. I did my training on weekends and studied on my own in the evenings. Having unpredictable weather 2-3 days in the future killed a lot of VFR flying for me.

 

[teethdoc]

Get to it. Having a dental practice is no excuse. I did my training on weekends and studied on my own in the evenings. Having unpredictable weather 2-3 days in the future killed a lot of VFR flying for me.

It's not the dental practice. I only work a few days a week It's the 3 kids and all the crap they drag me to.

 

[douglas393]

FTFY

PMP Tower..."Report when you are over the landfill"
Pilot Cessna 1234 "We are over the dump"
PMP Tower Angrily "That's not a dump, that's the landfill!"


The landfill is a favorite reporting site when coming in from the west.

 

[frfly172]

I fly the west coast all fall and winter.usually can get fog and low clouds early morning then clouds can hang out around 25-2800 scattered ,VFR is usually fly able ,if you start to encounter weather or a build up just land and wait an hour.

 

[JOhnH]

I'm trying to make a decision to fly into KISM Saturday VFR. I'm leaning towards driving, but the prospect of a 10h drive vs 3h in the Mooney sucks. I have got to make time to get my instrument ticket.

We have a lot of thunderstorms this time of year. Most of them are fast moving. And most of them are in the afternoon. And the progs change hourly.

If the forecast is only mildly horrible, I would go for it. You might have to put down and wait an hour or so, and it is a bit of a gamble, but what is the worst that could happen?

Of course, if it is a "gotta be there on time" trip, I might recommend a little more caution.

 

[MooneyDriver78]

Well its raining right now and metar says:
KJAX 191856Z 06007KT 10SM SCT034 BKN090 BKN200 26/23 A3007 RMK AO2 RAE14 SLP183 P0005 T02560228
This is pretty typical, so you are spot on with 3-4K range, afternoon you are always a risk of TS.

 

[JOhnH]

Well its raining right now and metar says:
KJAX 191856Z 06007KT 10SM SCT034 BKN090 BKN200 26/23 A3007 RMK AO2 RAE14 SLP183 P0005 T02560228
This is pretty typical, so you are spot on with 3-4K range, afternoon you are always a risk of TS.

Did you notice that in my post #3 I also specifically said Jacksonville (KJAX) almost always has low ceilings and is IFR more than almost anywhere else?

 

[jordane93]

your probably looking at islolated thunderstorms almost all the time now.

 

[davidm767]

Okay since most everyone is giving you the It depends response...which is the most accurate answer there is a ~typical~ altitude most cumulus hangs out at.

Around the NW Florida area (read Lower Alabama) I have experienced flying (nearly daily) cumulus hanging out anywhere around 2,000-3,0000 AGL (but is often lower near the coast). As you proceed South of Cross City (CTY) the clouds will lift a little to around 3-4,000. Again, it depends of a lot of conditions, but expect a lot of cumulus with some clouds forming to its bigger brother cumulonimbus - sometimes quicker than your XM/FIS-B map will show.

However, since I am not a certified weather forecaster (which is not worth much in FL since most forecasts will include: cumulus and cumulonimbus will dominate most of the state ---duh!!!)I cant not predict what you will actually experience.

I would suggest fly early, keep your eyes open, expect to deviate from your flight plan due to weather...and if things get a little dark out the front windscreen, turn around and land (most small cells often blow out in an hour or two).

Flying in Florida is impossible it just requires forethought and willingness to deviate from the planned route to get to your destination safely. Don't sit on the ground based on forecasts of cumulus or isolated thunderstorms (which is everywhere everyday) just be smart and be okay with flying on mother-nature's time (aka fly around it or sit on the ground) as opposed to your own time.

 

[Piloto]

I fly every two weeks between KFXE and KORL. If weather looks with a lot of red spots on the XM radar I will typically fly around 2Kft AGL to go underneath the weather. 95% of the time visibility will be VFR with some haze, rain and clouds. You may have to go down to 1Kft AGL in some instances. No sense on filing IFR to be in the soup at 6Kft pounded by a lot of turbulence. At 1 to 2Kft you will experience minimum turbulence and good visual but no ATC radar coverage in some areas. Even if you have a turbo Mooney you are better off below the weather because the build-ups tops 40kft.

There are areas with 1000ft TV towers. It helps to have a terrain/obstacle GPS. Occassionally I get warnings on my G560. It helps to have XM or at least a smartphone to see the weather ahead. At 1kft AGL your smartphone will give you better coverage than ADS-B WX. Stormscope is also very handy to show areas of active or growing build ups. I also have Monroy Traffic-Watch to alert me of traffic below ATC radar coverage. You will be surprised how many guys fly low to avoid weather.

José

 

[douglas393]

So to sum it up:

Flying in Florida is fun and challenging and very doable.
Realize that the weather changes quite quickly and be prepared to divert, or land at a moments notice. The good news is you are typically no more than 15 or 20 miles from a paved airport at any time while flying in Florida, so this is not a major issue.
Use in cockpit weather to help you determine trends. Remember the datalink weather can be as old as 15 minutes and so do NOT use it to see where the storms may be. ATC can help somewhat, but unless you have real time radar the only way you can tell is from see what is outside your cockpit and listening to the radio to see what other pilots are experiencing, and flight watch as well.
The best time to fly is in the morning and the evening(though lately we have been having some evening storms which is unusual).
Personally, I do not like flying below 2000 AGL(which for most of Florida is almost the same as MSL) because of towers. I have a good friend who will not fly below 2500 AGL for this reason in Florida. If below 2000 AGL be real careful you know where the towers are.
I would use flight following, but to tell you the truth I have flown cross state without it(they were too busy) and had no problems.
Have fun. I see no reason why you should not do it.

On and I almost forgot, weather reports older than right before you take off are as wrong as they are right...in fact the weather report during the summer is typically temperatures with highs in the low 90's and evening lows in the high 70's, winds about 5-8 knots, and scattered thunderstorms starting about 1900Z and ending about 0000Z will take care of most of the reports.

 

[asechrest]

I'm in West Central. Until just the last week or two, we were having afternoon storms every day. I mean every freaking day. Most mornings clear and beautiful.

But as storms go, ours are not typically widespread. It's normal to have a torrential downpour...for 20 minutes, then it's gone and birds are singing. Such is life here.

Afternoon storms have eased up a bit lately. I find puffy mid morning and early afternoon clouds hang out around 3-4k feet in my area. No experience with much more than that since I'm still a student.

 

[MooneyDriver78]

Did you notice that in my post #3 I also specifically said Jacksonville (KJAX) almost always has low ceilings and is IFR more than almost anywhere else?

Yes, but I've been down by HEG for the last 3 months and haven't notice any IFR weather with the exception of heavy rain/TS. Even with the rain yesterday, broken ceiling was 9000, 10 mile visibility. It seems pretty typical florida like weather: mostly sunny, chance of TS especially in the afternoon, high around 90. So how local is this weather??

 

[douglas393]

Yes, but I've been down by HEG for the last 3 months and haven't notice any IFR weather with the exception of heavy rain/TS. Even with the rain yesterday, broken ceiling was 9000, 10 mile visibility. It seems pretty typical florida like weather: mostly sunny, chance of TS especially in the afternoon, high around 90. So how local is this weather??

Weather in Florida is very local. It is common to be raining over one house and to be sunny and dry at the house next door. Small localized cells are very common.

 

[MooneyDriver78]

Weather in Florida is very local. It is common to be raining over one house and to be sunny and dry at the house next door. Small localized cells are very common.

I understand, which is why I said "with the exception of heavy rain/TS".

I was talking about the OP statement about KJAX having more IFR than anywhere else, not counting TS/heavy rain, I rarely see IFR weather.
We are called the sunshine state you know

 

[Bill]

Keep an eye on the progs, but the Friday 8pm (48hr) prog is not encouraging.

Still not looking good for VFR flight tomorrow.

 

[Henning]

Still not looking good for VFR flight tomorrow.

Meh, it's almost always good for VFR flight this time of year, just stay underneath and drive around the dark spots.

 

[teethdoc]

The plan is to fly from KBHM to Perry Florida (40J) this afternoon to get out of Birmimngham ahead of the front but still be on the ground before dark. Get up in the morning and fly the remaining hour 40J to KISM.

 

[Bill]

Meh, it's almost always good for VFR flight this time of year, just stay underneath and drive around the dark spots.

If you like running under 015CB

KBHM 201121Z 2012/2112 15006KT P6SM FEW050
FM210100 17008KT P6SM OVC050
FM210600 17009KT P6SM VCSH OVC025
FM210900 19008KT 4SM SHRA VCTS OVC015CB

 

[N747JB]

That sounds like a good plan, much better than trying to fly underneath the clouds and dodge dark spots for 3 or 4 hours tomorrow morning. Could you fly to KISM tonight? If you're night current and comfortable at night, it could be a nice smooth ride.

The plan is to fly from KBHM to Perry Florida (40J) this afternoon to get out of Birmimngham ahead of the front but still be on the ground before dark. Get up in the morning and fly the remaining hour 40J to KISM.

 

[teethdoc]

That sounds like a good plan, much better than trying to fly underneath the clouds and dodge dark spots for 3 or 4 hours tomorrow morning. Could you fly to KISM tonight? If you're night current and comfortable at night, it could be a nice smooth ride.

I'm current, but not a big fan of flying at night. I don't even drive well at night. My kids are good for about 2h without a stop, so I figured we may as well make a night of it.

 

[Henning]

If you like running under 015CB

KBHM 201121Z 2012/2112 15006KT P6SM FEW050
FM210100 17008KT P6SM OVC050
FM210600 17009KT P6SM VCSH OVC025
FM210900 19008KT 4SM SHRA VCTS OVC015CB

Yep, doesn't bother me a bit, drive around the dark patches and toward the light, get checks on winds above FL 200 so I can stay to the windward side of them and out from under the anvils.

 

[Bill]

Yep, doesn't bother me a bit, drive around the dark patches and toward the light, get checks on winds above FL 200 so I can stay to the windward side of them and out from under the anvils.

To each his own, but I wouldn't do it.

 

[Bill]

The plan is to fly from KBHM to Perry Florida (40J) this afternoon to get out of Birmimngham ahead of the front but still be on the ground before dark. Get up in the morning and fly the remaining hour 40J to KISM.

I like it!

See my latest post in the Daily Pic thread.

 

[N747JB]

I'm current, but not a big fan of flying at night. I don't even drive well at night. My kids are good for about 2h without a stop, so I figured we may as well make a night of it.

Hey, it's a night in a hotel either way, and if you are more comfortable not flying at night, then it's the right decision! Have fun at Disney! or wherever you're going!!
A weekend at Disney makes my mechanic's bill look like charity!!

 

[teethdoc]

Made it safely to Perry (40J). Great small airport with cheap fuel. Several local hotels offer free shuttle. Ended up landing after dark anyway.

 

[N747JB]

Made it safely to Perry (40J). Great small airport with cheap fuel. Several local hotels offer free shuttle. Ended up landing after dark anyway.

Good! Enjoy your weekend!