Worried about flying in late afternoon- thunderstorms

[MissManda]

We are flying on Southwest from Raleigh to Orlando on 6/9. Our flight leaves Raleigh at 4:30pm and arrives in Orlando around 6:00pm. I booked my tickets in the winter and so I never even thought about the late afternoon thunderstorms that typically hit during the summer.

I've flown only a few times and never during bad weather. This may sound silly, but I'm really scared/nervous about flying through a storm. I have a bad feeling with the flight time I chose, that there is a good chance this will happen (or am I being paranoid?).

In the event that we do fly during storms, what can we expect? Do flights get delayed unti the storms pass? Is the turbulance bad (ie, how much dramamine should I take)?

We are flying with an 11 year old who has never flown before and she's already really nervous/scared. Any thoughts on how to ease her mind (and mine) if the flight is a little bumpy?

Thanks!

 

[Shelly F - Ohio]

Usually you get a daily rain shower in Florida but not necessarily at thunderstrom. So I would not worry too much about it. If the weather is too bad the flight will be delayed because of weather. Or they may have the pilot fly around the thrunder cell. I really would not worry about it. My husband is a pilot and said that they keep a close eye on the weather and take precautions so don't worry.

yes flights get delayed becuase of storms. we were coming home last year and our flight got cancelled because of the terrible weather. By the time the storm had cleared up we had to wait for our flight crew to arrive from Denver. When they arrived from Denver the pilots had been up to long and were not allowed to fly any more. It was 1:00 a.m by this time and they had no other pilots available. We hurried up and rebooked for a 6:00 a.m flight and about ten minutes later they were telling people that were trying to rebook that it would be 3 days before they could get them on a flight!!! Tempers were hot... So if you flight gets cancelled act FAST and talk to the gate agent right away.

 

[dudspizza]

Weather can happen anytime, anywhere. Don't worry, you'll be fine.

Duds

 

[luvavacation]

Another nervous flyer here, so I know exactly where you are coming from and what you are feeling!

I have a friend that is a pilot and a family member that is a flight attendant, and they all tell me that turbulence will not take down a plane, and planes can handle storms. After all, hurricane flights (for NOAA?) fly into hurricanes, and they come right back out perfectly fine!

I still don't feel calm! It is all talk talk talk to me, my highly intelligent thought process tells me they are crazy, and I still fear storms!

However, two years ago, we were flying from Rockford, IL on Allegiant into Sanford, and the sky was perfectly clear, we were descending, the ground was getting closer, cars were discernible, when we suddenly were in the midst of dark clouds, rain starting hitting really hard against the plane, and there was lightning. At the rate of descent, and how close the ground looked just moments before, I guess were just a couple of minutes from touchdown?

Anyway, the plane suddenly went straight up, engine revving, and my heart stopped beating. I was all ready to land, and now up again?

Thankfully, the pilot came on within seconds, and told us all everything was fine, we just ended up in a bad storm pocket, it happens in Florida, but we were going to circle around and land on a runway where the storm wasn't causing any problems. Those funny tropical storms - dark and pouring rain in one spot, perfectly sunny and dry nearby!

I tell you, I was so relieved, and my heartrate quickly became normal again. It was good to know that the pilot was not going to risk our lives (ok, not his, either!) just to land on time, and that he was capable of pulling out of landing and guiding the plane straight up above the storm in record time (and that is how it felt to me, like a rocket ship zooming up!).

Most importantly, he let the passengers know what was happening!

If I could take this pilot with me on all my flights, I would be abit more relieved, but I just have to trust that they really do know what is safe in a storm and what isn't. Plus, I figure the ones that fly to Orlando, they must do it often enough, that they are familiar with the weather quirks, right?

Hopefully you won't have to worry about the storms, and all will be well. If there is a storm though, and you suddenly shoot straight up, be glad your pilot is being cautious. Then write a letter to the airline and thank them for a cautious pilot! I did that after my flight - I figure it doesn't hurt to reinforce a passenger's desire for cautious pilots over daredevil pilots!

 

[DebbieB]

We are flying on Southwest from Raleigh to Orlando on 6/9. Our flight leaves Raleigh at 4:30pm and arrives in Orlando around 6:00pm. I booked my tickets in the winter and so I never even thought about the late afternoon thunderstorms that typically hit during the summer.

I've flown only a few times and never during bad weather. This may sound silly, but I'm really scared/nervous about flying through a storm. I have a bad feeling with the flight time I chose, that there is a good chance this will happen (or am I being paranoid?).

In the event that we do fly during storms, what can we expect? Do flights get delayed unti the storms pass? Is the turbulance bad (ie, how much dramamine should I take)?

We are flying with an 11 year old who has never flown before and she's already really nervous/scared. Any thoughts on how to ease her mind (and mine) if the flight is a little bumpy?

Thanks!

They can fly around or above storms. When we were flying home from MCO earlier this month, we flew above a storm, you could see the lightning below. It was a little bumpy, the pilot put the seatbelt light on but it wasn't bad. We were past it in 5 or 10 minutes.

When I took my 9 year old niece, we had turbulance as we decended into Orlando, she thought it was fun! She had never flown before. So I think if you show it's OK, it will calm her fears.

 

[OKW Lover]

We fly very frequently - enough to make it to the first rung of Delta's elite status. We've never had a problem with thunderstorms. The airlines have sophisticated weather tracking equipment and will either go around or over the thunderstorms enroute. They don't want you to have a bad flight either.

 

[MissManda]

Thanks for calming my nerves! I really appreciate it!

 

[lylone]

My tip would be to watch the flight attendants, if they are calm then you should be too. If they are up walking around preparing for landing, then you know there is no trouble. They are even up when there is turbulence! Do you think the airlines would risk their lives just to serve you drinks?

The sudden thrust you felt was probably the plane reacting to the wind. A plane can be flown, take off, and land all on auto pilot! Most pilots, however, still enjoy flying the plan themselves and take the opportunity to do so when they can!

 

[ktpc2005]

Sometimes I have heard say the bumpy plane rides was the best ride on the trip.....

 

[goofy4tink]

We landed in Orlando late afternoon once...the lightning around us was simply incredible!! The sky was lit up with bolts of lighting. My poor dd...she was terrified. But, it wasn't the least bumpy!! Just kind of scary looking.
Now, one of the few times I've had a flight delayed due to weather was flying home, from Orlando, to Boston. The thunderstorms were so bad that we got held in Florida for 3 hrs!! Now, that's unusual.

So, will you have to deal with thunderstorms? Maybe. But it shouldn't be a big deal at all!!!

 

[klmall]

Our worst flying experience ever was not due to being in the storm itself but due to delays caused by summer thunderstorms elsewhere. Bad thunderstorms in the upper midwest caused our plane to be very late coming to DC to pick us up.

By the time the flight arrived we barely made it in to Minneapolis/St. Paul. We missed our connecting flight; were shuffled around but eventually got on the last flight out of that airport to Denver that night to start a three-week long car trip out west!

Minneapolis/St. Paul counter attendants told us that they have more trouble with flight schedules in the summer than in the winter!

After that experience in 2000 I have booked summer flights leaving as early as possible in the day!

 

[NotUrsula]

If your flight is non-stop you will probably be OK, but the gotcha is in the plane itself: where will it be before it gets to your airport?

The SWA flights that we most often take to MCO tend to come here from either Omaha or Chicago; both of them are cities that have issues with major delays caused by summer thunderstorms (In the case of Omaha the primary problem is tornadoes. Tornadoes in the area cause ground-stops, because they are too unpredictable to be flown around if you are still on ascent or descent.) Most of the time if the flight is coming from Omaha the delay will be minor if there are storms on the ground there, but Chicago is another ball of wax altogether, because it is a hub. Delays have a huge ripple effect at hubs, so if your plane will be coming in from a hub then you have a bit more cause to worry.

We were sitting on the runway at MCO on Christmas Day 2006 when a tornado was spotted in SW Volusia County. Within an hour there had been 3 touchdowns between Volusia and Lake, with one of them hitting rather close to MCO. Our plane was one rattling can while we were sitting there waiting out the ground-stop.

Also, not to be scary, but reporters from the Chicago Tribune won a Pulitzer in 2001 for their feature reporting on an O'Hare weather ground stop situation that happened on September 11, 2000. The story is called The Longest Day, and you can read it at the Pulitzer Archives: http://www.pulitzer.org/archives/6439 I'm not linking this because it is likely to happen to you (it isn't), but because it is just a really great article.

 

[pooh2001]

Please see the below website about fear of flying...
http://www.airsafe.com/issues/fear.htm

I think you have more a chance having an issue when driving a car, than flying.

 

[DebbieB]

Our worst flying experience ever was not due to being in the storm itself but due to delays caused by summer thunderstorms elsewhere. Bad thunderstorms in the upper midwest caused our plane to be very late coming to DC to pick us up.

By the time the flight arrived we barely made it in to Minneapolis/St. Paul. We missed our connecting flight; were shuffled around but eventually got on the last flight out of that airport to Denver that night to start a three-week long car trip out west!

Minneapolis/St. Paul counter attendants told us that they have more trouble with flight schedules in the summer than in the winter!

After that experience in 2000 I have booked summer flights leaving as early as possible in the day!

I agree, when I traveled alot for work, summer was worse than winter for delays. As soon as there are low clouds, they slow down the air traffic in the northeast.