I think we'll go around that cell...

TangoWhiskey

TangoWhiskey

Touchdown! Greaser!
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3Green
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It is getting dark outside (DFW) so I pulled up the weather radar...

Holy Moses! See those tops at the Kansas/OK border?! FL770 and 720 (actually, to be technically correct, that's ABOVE the Flight Levels)... I don't think I've ever seen them that high before!
 

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I bet Tony is wishing he was down there to grab some updrafts in his glider.

I think that's a typo. Someone probably keyed the 7 instead of the 4 on the number pad.
 
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N2212R said:
I bet Tony is wishing he was down there to grab some updrafts in his glider.

I think that's a typo. Someone probably keyed the 7 instead of the 4 on the number pad.
Click to expand...

Twice!? The picture before that one had the cells at 650...
 
wow ed, you totally read my mind, seriously
only need a space suit and a lot of oxygen, oh, and a tow pilot as crazy as i am :)
 
Thos numbers are correct. I've been watching some very high tops for a week or so. We had tops at 640 last wknd.

This puts a different spin on Tom D's famous saying.
 
N2212R said:
I bet Tony is wishing he was down there to grab some updrafts in his glider.

I think that's a typo. Someone probably keyed the 7 instead of the 4 on the number pad.
Click to expand...

That was my thought as well. Given that the tropopause begins well below that, I don't see how a cell could get that high.
 
West Texas in spring supercells can get tops above 50K don't know I ever saw them that high.
 
Convective Sigmet 14c
Valid Until 0355z
Tx
From 40nne Jct-30nnw Dlf
Line Sev Ts 30 Nm Wide Mov From 24025kt. Tops Abv Fl450.
Tornadoes...hail To 3 In...wind Gusts To 60kt Poss.
 
bbchien said:
I am missing the Air Care Alliance Annual and Board Meeting tomorrow in OKC. I mean, I'm pretty tough and educated about weather, but I don't see how to manage THAT stuff.
http://www.aircareall.org
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Doc, this all reminds me of when I was trying to get home from Santa Fe; every effort to convince myself there was a rational way through it failed.

And that was just fine.

====

Listening to all the airliners headed to/from DFW, dancing with routings and such. They have to go.
 
They (cells) can and do get pretty tall here in this area. My back yard is flooded here in Tulsa. Of course we are about 20 inches below normal, so I am not complaining. I have been at FL470 before and looking up at cells. I was no wear near close to topping, even if I would have taken it up to FL510. It is humbling....
 
lancefisher said:
That was my thought as well. Given that the tropopause begins well below that, I don't see how a cell could get that high.
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Must be some huge huge huge huge updrafts and serious heating going on. Wikipedia stated they could go as high as 75,000 feet. Not the wiki is the end all be all of facts, but I spent about an hour searching for official measures to no avail. Maybe it wasn't a keystroke error, but DAMN!
 
N2212R said:
I think that's a typo. Someone probably keyed the 7 instead of the 4 on the number pad.
Click to expand...
If it's not a typo that's insane. I checked a PIREP I filled by phone with FSS on aviationweather a few days ago. Had my Cessna 172 at FL250....
 
infotango said:
I checked a PIREP I filled by phone with FSS on aviationweather a few days ago. Had my Cessna 172 at FL250....
Click to expand...
People make mistakes. The other day I flewn into an airport where the ATIS was clearly saying "one-zero thousand scattered, two-zero thousand broken." I rechecked it a couple times since I didn't believe what I was hearing. We shot the ILS to about 700-800 AGL. Not a big deal for us but can you imagine someone who thought the place was good VFR? After we landed I told the tower that I didn't think the ATIS was a correct representation of the weather. :dunno:
 
AirBaker said:
So whats the margin of error on reported tops at FL770?
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Alan Englehart teaches that in the spring, the Jet runs a bit lower to the surface than in the fall. This means that the -50F (tropopause) level is also lower. Therefore all the temperature transitions (where the vapor gets to the point where it condenses and gives off latent heat of condensation) occur somewhat lower in the Atmosphere.

This means the heated airstream has a longer, higher pressure expansion gradient (the gun barrel is longer) and the storms are more violent in the spring.

There are a few we cannot finesse.
 
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AirBaker said:
So whats the margin of error on reported tops at FL770?
Click to expand...

I'd like to find out if the numbers on that chart are computer generated or entered by hand, and, are they computed from atmospheric data, or measured (satellite, radar, echo tops, etc.).
 
Troy Whistman said:
I'd like to find out if the numbers on that chart are computer generated or entered by hand, and, are they computed from atmospheric data, or measured (satellite, radar, echo tops, etc.).
Click to expand...
Last time I checked (at the NWS office and NEXRAD site about 5 miles from home), the tops are measured by a technician and entered manually into a computer terminal. At least it's not a teletype anymore.
 
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