Hurricane Remnants

[bluesky74656]

I'm planning a flight on Friday from Cleveland (CGF) to Gatlinburg, TN (GKT). It looks like I'll have to deal with the remnants of hurricane Isaac. I'm VFR only, but proficient in dealing with MVFR. Can someone tell me what type of clouds and rain is normally associated with a hurricane remnant? Is it more like 4000' / 5sm, or more like 200' / 1sm? Is it generally in an organized cluster or clusters, or is it widespread?

My backup plan is to make the 9 hour drive rather than the 3.5 hour flight, and I can make that call on Friday morning shortly before I leave. I just want to know if I'm crazy for thinking this is a possibility, or if it's worth keeping a close eye on the weather to see how the conditions play out.

 

[steingar]

If i had to go anywhere near hurricane I'd drive. We had remnants trash the place a couple years ago. Those winds would had torn the wings clean off an aircraft. They tore siding off houses and knocked over 100year old trees.

That said, they keep good track of these things, so you should have a pretty good idea before you set out. I'd worry more about getting stuck on the back side of the thing myself.

 

[spinfire]

The excellent AvWxWorkshops site (run by forum user Scottd) has a recent workshop on dissipating tropical weather. The short answer is that there are still serious hazards present in these remnants and you should proceed very carefully even if IFR rated. The remnants are known for spawning tornadoes without other telltale signs of convection.

http://avwxworkshops.com/workshop-detail.php?contentSet=MTk1

I highly recommend AvWxWorkshops.