I know the headline says 36,000′ – but maybe we’re at 34,000′ and the other guys are at 36,000′. You can see in this first picture that someone’s flying higher than us! We just flew under a contrail–the ice cloud jets leave behind as they criss-cross the sky. Kind of cool to see one so close.
I’m flying to Boston right now for a Broadcast Meteorology conference put on by the AMS – the American Meteorological Society. I look forward to this conference every year.
When we flew out of Portland–we saw morning clouds and a birds eye view I wish I had everyday before doing the weather! The clouds stopped short of the Columbia River.
Then they were pretty solid until the foothills of the Cascades. We probably should re-name these the ‘islands in the sun.’
I was on the wrong side of the plane for Mt. Hood and Mt. Jefferson but had a nice view of Mount St. Helens and the 8,000′ or so it has left!
And it’s amazing how small Mt. Rainier (14,000′ and change–background) and Mt. Adams (12,000′ and change–foreground) appear from the air.
I’ll update this as we head east–there is a chance of seeing some nice thunderheads.
But here’s the question of the day: after takeoff the pilot turned off the seat belt sign and said, “we anticipate smooth sailing for at least the first two-thirds of the flight.”
It’s now just minutes later, we’re hitting some bumps and the seat belt sign is back on. Why is the weather always the opposite of what they say from the flight deck??
I’m so glad that never happens with my forecasts…
Hi Bruce
How does barometric register. we are aprox 1200′ SE of Beavercreek by upper highland Butte.
Is barometric pressure different at this level, then at lower elevation.
We just bought a Oregon Scientific weather station with wind direction, rain gauge, wind speed. It is really cool but we don’t know how to get the barometric pressure set for this altitude.
Our location would be a perfect place for one of your weather stations.
Our weather gets snow when no one else does and sunny when in the cities are fog in and cloudy a lot of time.
If you could help with the other we would appreciate it.
thanks again
Clint & Joanne Meyer
503-632-4191.
Joanne:
You guys are definitely in the ‘snow zone’ around here! Yes–your pressure is lower than at sea level or Portland. But with so many weather sensors out there…you’d better check with Oregon Scientific about whether yours can be set or if it even needs to–maybe it self adjusts.
Thanks for your comment & question!
Did you look up from 36,000 feet to see if the sky above you looked kind of dark? Supposedly at that altitude if you look carefully, you can see stars through the thin upper atmospheric air.