9.2 Weather Hazards

     The most significant weather hazard, at least the one that has seemed to scar me the most is what is commonly referred in aviation as "high to low." The concept revolves around the act of flying from a high pressure system to a low one, where the lower pressure makes an altimeter give an incorrect reading (High, n.d.). That illusion of height could prove catastrophic for the aircraft and it's passengers, as pictured below when terrain in the area can be incredibly varied. It is bewildering how a small lapse of judgment or lack of awareness could so drastically affect flight conditions and maneuvers, with the only remedy being efficient planning and execution. Maybe it affects me so because I know at face value, I wouldn't be able to identify a systems conditions from another.  Compared to other weather hazards, who might give visual cues, I don't believe it to be more dangerous than others, just harder to identify.

    High and low pressure systems are generally associated with their respective conditions, as in colder becomes high pressure and hotter is a lower pressure, in respect to an air parcels density. These temperatures are highly influenced by weather fronts as they come and go, but the danger is always there!  Although there is ground communication and constant observation in a given flight area, the thought that a mistake could cost your life isn't seemingly unusual in aviation, but this seems to be one of those times when the potential is in another's' hands. 


References

"High to low, look out below!". Pilots of America. (n.d.). https://www.pilotsofamerica.com/community/threads/high-to-low-look-out-below.49386/#:~:text=When%20you%20fly%20from%20a,so%20%22look%20out%20below.%22.

Learn to FLY BLOG – ASA (aviation supplies & Academics, Inc.). Learn to Fly Blog - ASA (Aviation Supplies & Academics, Inc.). (n.d.). http://learntoflyblog.com/2017/11/30/cfi-brief-altimeter-pressure-errors/.

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