WE'VE ALL PROBABLY LOOKED at the terminal aerodrome forecast (TAF) the day before a flight and seen it call for clear and a million, only to arrive at that forecasted time to find the weather is anything but VFR. Thankfully, the opposite can be true, too, and a call for low IFR can materialize into a perfect bluebird day. These last-minute changes shouldn't surprise us-forecasts are an often-inaccurate best guess. As the seasons change, pilots see a mixed bag of weather. The cold of winter hasn't fully vanished, yet the convective threats typical of summer approach as well. Planning a flight when dealing with these types of changing, variable weather conditions can be daunting, but staying on the ground when the conditions are a shade less than perfect isn't realistic for most of us who want to maintain proficiency and currency, either.
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