Air Force One Under the Sun

"The press pool gathers under the wing of Air Force One, prior to President Barack Obama's departure from George Bush Intercontinental Airport, in Houston, Texas, Oct. 16, 2009."

Official White House photo by Pete Souza, accessed from the White House Flickr photo stream

Several Tropical Disturbances Being Monitored

We are in the heart of Hurricane Season in the U.S., and several tropical disturbances have recently formed over the Atlantic and Pacific. Here are the latest Sunday afternoon advisories and forecast tracks. Stay tuned for updates, and possible impacts travel in the week to come.


Data supplied by the National Hurricane Center

Atlantic:

• Tropical Storm Claudette located is just off the Florida Panhandle is expected to move inland over the next 24-hours. Maximum sustained winds are currently at 50 mph.
• Tropical Depression Ana is located near the Leeward islands, moving WNW at 23 mph. Maximum sustained winds are 35 mph. Long-range models bring Ana into the Gulf of Mexico late in the week.
• Tropical Storm Bill, located far out into the Atlantic, has maximum sustained winds of 65 mph. Bill is showing significant signs of strengthening, and some models bring the storm to a Category 4 hurricane within a few days. Long-range forecasts indicate Bill will be located over the Atlantic, South of Bermuda, by the end of the week.

Pacific:

• Hurricane Guillermo is currently 1000 miles East of Hilo, Hawaii. Maximum sustained winds of 85mph. The storm is expected to gradually weaken and push to the Northwest, and not directly impact the Hawai'ian islands.

Vacation Idea: Storm Chasing

Not for the faint-hearted, storm chasing vacations allow one to get up close and personal with severe storms, and on a "good" day, even encounter tornado's.

Tornado alley as it's known, stretches throughout much of the Midwest and west of the Appalachian mountains of the United States. Although tornadoes can occur almost anywhere in the United States, including right here in Northern California (the picture to the left was taken at Sacramento International Airport), during the early summer months, storms are particularly severe and plentiful in Tornado Alley. As such, professionals and amateurs alike gather in the "alley" awaiting the opportunity to encounter the awesome power of mother nature. Speaking from personal experience, it is a feeling unlike any other.

Forbes Traveler recently wrote on professional tour operators dedicated to those interested in partaking in storm chasing. Many of these operators are well-versed in meteorology and storm chasing, and chase storms equipped with the latest high-tech equipment allowing them to identify regions storms are most likely to break out.

'Gone storm-chasing! Be back soon

As some of you know, another deeper passion of mine is Storm Chasing. Taking a red-eye flight out tonight and heading to Southeast Texas to intercept a possible severe weather event on Tuesday. Click here for the latest convective outlook. Be back real soon!

Video of Lufthansa Plane Narrowly Avoids Disaster

Kudos to the cockpit crew for working against strong head winds, and landing everyone safely.Video is of an Airbus-320 trying to land in Hamburg Germany last Saturday. The actual touchdown shows one of the winds nearly making contact with the runway.

The National Weather Service is expected to issue a special Airport Weather Warning for San Francisco International this afternoon. An AWW addresses weather phenomena that may adversely impact ground operations at airports, and is usually issued just prior to the onset of severe weather. Weather conditions, specifically erratic winds, will likely disrupt regular airport operations. In the upper left column of this page is a map of real-time airport delays and problems.

Related: Virgin America announced today a fee waiver policy for flights to/from San Francisco and other VX cities due to winter weather conditions. Passengers holding confirmed reservations between January 3-7th may qualify for waiver of change fees and/or fare differences for switching flights. Details here.

United Airlines Cancels over 600 flights past 3 days

According to the Chicago Tribune, United has canceled over 600 flights in the past 3 days due to weather and staffing problems; this has left thousands of people delayed or stranded throughout the country. Initially caused by the severe winter weather across the Midwest, a backlog of delays and cancellations resulted in flight crews being unable to report to other scheduled flights on time. While other airlines have been impacted this week, none to the degree of United's problems.

Airport Sighting...

Plane crash in resort island of Phuket kills 88 people

BREAKING NEWS
A One-Two-GO airliner has crashed in the resort island of Phuket Thailand Sunday, killing 88 people on board. The airline, one of a handful of budget air carriers in Asia, was making a 2nd attempt of landing in strong winds and heavy rain. Despite the many fatalities, Health Ministry officials report several survivors managed to escape before the plane burst into flames.

Read more here

Travel Advisory: Hurricane Felix now a Category 5 Hurricane

Hurricane Season is in full force! Hurricane Felix (to the left), currently located Southeast of Jamaica has just been upgraded to a Cat 5 Hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 165 mph. The projected path takes it through the Caribbean then at for Belize and/or the Mexican Yucatan by Midweek. After crossing inland, the storm is expected to reemerge, over the Gulf of Mexico late next week.

Also, Tropical Storm Henriette, about 300 miles Southeast of Cabo, Mexico is expected to become a Hurricane within the next 24 hours, making landfall somewhere along Southern Baja Peninsula Tuesday.

Folks traveling to these areas over the next week should be aware of potential travel interruptions.

Lightning Bolt Strikes Plane Taking Off

Check out this awesome video of a lightning bolt striking an airplane in Osaka.

LINK: High Voltage: Lightning Bolt Hitting Plane Taking Off in Osaka - Gizmodo


Then read viewer comments on how airplanes are not always susceptible to damage from lightning.

Hurricane Dean Travel Advisory
Among others, Spirit and Delta Airlines have issued travel advisories and relaxed travel rules for passengers with travel plans into the Bahamas and Caribbean over the next few days.

As of 10am Saturday, Hurricane Dean, a Category 4 Hurricane was expected to rip through the island of Jamaica later Sunday, then head toward the Gulf of Mexico in the U.S.

Anyone planning travel into the Southeast U.S over the next several days should also monitor the storm track of Dean.