Weather delaying flights?

[maddiebee]

I'm wondering how much rain it takes to delay a flight? Does any thunder and lighting delay a flight?

 

[Polydweller]

I'm wondering how much rain it takes to delay a flight? Does any thunder and lighting delay a flight?

Lightning can delay flights by preventing ground crews from working outside loading baggage on planes etc. There are rules that require ground crews to seek shelter if there is lightening within a few miles of the airport.

Its rare for rain alone to cause a significant delay since most runways are designed to shed water quickly and planes can fly through and above rain. It's mostly about winds and storms causing wind shear etc. Extreme winds can cause planes to have difficulty taking off and landing.

 

[aubriee]

This past May we were two hours late leaving Orlando due to lightening that we never did see. At first they said the plane was late coming in from Atlanta due to the lightening. Then when it finally arrived, they made the announcement that we were going to have a very narrow window to get out as the storm was coming through. Most of us finally loaded, but the pilot then made the announcement that the tunnel had been closed due lightening and there were still a few more people that hadn't made it on. I happened to look down and noticed the guys that load the luggage had ran back inside too. Which is what I would expect them to do (we wouldn't want them to get hit by lightening), but what caused my concern is that they had left the carts that carry the luggage with the sides up. You'd have thought they'd take a few seconds to at least drop those sides down to protect the luggage a little. Nope the luggage was just sitting there getting wet. I was sure glad we had done carry on only. Funny thing is, that even though it was very dark and raining, we never did see the lightening they were talking about. I don't know how close the lightening has to be. It was hot on the plane and we hated the long wait, but at the same time were glad they were being so careful.

 

[bballmom56]

Several years ago we were delayed leaving MCO as our plane was not there yet due to storms with lightning in the area. And once it arrived, we were delayed some more because of the storms. And yes, that meant that the ground workers could not be on the tarmac as well. So a few hours went by, the weather cleared. Then they announced that our flight crew was now not available because they had already worked the maximum hours without sleep and the airline did not have another crew available. We had to book another flight for the next day and stay overnight in Orlando. That was not fun.

So yes, storms with strong or difficult winds and lightning will certainly cause delays. Just plain rain with no winds or lightning probably does not. But there can certainly be other reasons for delays.

 

[goofy4tink]

And it doesn't have to be weather where you are!!! It can be where the plane is coming in from.
There was the flight we were taking home...to Boston. We sat at MCO for 3.5 hrs past our original departure time. Why? There was a huge thunderstorm in Boston!!! We had to stay at MCO until it cleared!!!