Greetings!
I have a question for current pilots. Has anyone ever encountered an “Atmospheric River” while flying? Seems like lately, all I keep hearing while watching the TV weather reports is this phenomenon.
I’m 73 and a “medically retired” Private Pilot. While in the military, part of my duties included weather analysis. I never heard of an “atmoshperic river” nor seen any evidence of such an event. I would think that a conventional gasoline powered aircraft would be incapable of flying through a “river” and I’m reasonably certain that a Jet Powered aircraft engine would have a similar problem.
Am I misunderstanding something, or has aviation technology really changed that much?
Thanks,
Bob
It is just a fancy, trendy phrase for “entrained moisture” being picked up by a storm system. There are lots of different phrases for this, and you probably know a few: moisture fetch, etc.
Nothing new here, just bored writers and TV “meteorologists”.