Weather, it is one of the first things you probably check for every morning by taking a peek out of the window, or checking your local morning weather station. It is also one of the conditions we consider when planning a trip or an activity. It holds the key to bringing life to a dry field or destruction to a city. Weather plays a part in aviation as well. Merriam-Webster's definition of weather "is the state of the atmosphere with respect to heat or cold, wetness or dryness, calm or storm, clearness or cloudiness" (2016). At first glance the definition seemed a bit overly worded or excessive. However, at a second glance it describes the phenomena exactly as it is, the state of the atmosphere affected by hot, cold, wet, or dry conditions. These basic conditions systematically form a variation of weather occurrences like wind, rain, snow, hail, and even storms. Some of these weather occurrences are assisted by the rotation of the Earth causing the Coriolis effect, an inertial force caused by the rotation of the earth which in return is responsible for circulating air. We see this play a big role in the formation of hurricanes.

This leads me to the effects of weather on aviation. Being that there are so many weather conditions that greatly affect air travel. The class knows about the common supercell thunderstorms that produce rain and fog type conditions. I am sure the class is well familiar with hurricanes and tornadoes because of their usual occurrences, destruction, and media spread. Thus having that knowledge, I wanted to showcase a weather event that most people are not aware of or have much knowledge on. The phenomenon I want to discuss is a microburst. "Though less well-known than tornadoes, microbursts are much more common. According to the National Weather Service, there are approximately 10 microburst reports for every one tornado, but these numbers are just an estimate" (Pedersen,2016). A microburst or also known as a downburst, it is a violent but short-lived downdraft that creates extreme wind shears at low altitudes and is usually associated with thunderstorms (Merriam-Webster,2016). This describes a column of wind blowing straight down towards the surface. Just like when you walk through an air curtain installed on a door used to create an air seal, like the ones found at your local Costco produce section. Microbursts can be devastating to an aircraft flying through it, this is because the downdraft from the microburst will force the aircraft to rapidly decrease in altitude and will eliminate any lift the aircraft needs to climb. This would be a nightmare for a pilot to recover from and is easily powerful enough to knock any size aircraft out of the sky. When a pilot is not flying directly under the downdraft, the surrounding area consists of upward shear winds and turbulence. These conditions are caused by the downdraft winds deflecting from the surface and curling around the outside of the microburst. A microburst condition is produced by the cooling winds during a thunderstorm, a rush of cold air is forced down carrying a heavy loud of rain with it.

In conclusion, I hope to bring more awareness to a weather condition known as a microburst, and the dangers associated with them as it pertains to aviation. These are extremely dangerous to fly though and should be avoided at all costs. Lasting roughly the same amount of time as your work break, this is not a 15-20 minute disaster I intend on being caught in, and I hope neither do you.