<p>I'm a flight instructor looking for a better way to drive home the dangers related to flying in and around thunderstorms (TS).  The FAA has mountains of operational guidance for airmen regarding TS avoidance but I'm looking for a punchy way to make the point stick with a technically correct comparison to a known quantity.  An example of what I'd like to have is:<br>
"Think of it this way: over the course of 15 minutes, an average TS will release the energy roughly equal to //a well known event//."</p>

<p>Published guidance is basically, "TS are really, <em>really</em> dangerous.  Like, really...for real.  Up and down drafts can exceed 60mph and momentary jolts can easily exceed aircraft design limits [+3.8G and -1.5G for a typical general aviation plane].  Only fly on the upwind side and even then stay 20mi away because TS have been known to fling hail the size of watermelons miles downrange."</p>

<p>The technical guidance that is published is not meant for flight students and few pilots, even professionals, care about weather enough to learn more that what is required to pass tests.</p>

<p>Question: how much energy is dissipated (from maturity to dissipation) through the lifecycle of a TS? </p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-06-26T05:11:24.083Z
do this link help?http://forum.weatherzone.com.au/ubbthreads.php/topics/1147886/How_much_energy_is_in_a_thunde
trond hansen
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-06-26T18:05:43.943Z
Could be an answer
acpilot
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-06-26T18:27:09.173Z
i know too litle abuot this to make it an answer,but the link is there for anybody to use,i did use the heading from the question to find it by google(energy released from thunderstorms).
trond hansen
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-06-26T18:39:24.460Z
even if this is spot on here it is strange if this havent been asked over at aviation.
trond hansen
CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-06-26T18:40:39.013Z
Those guys are way too eager to close stuff.  I just cut out the middleman.
acpilot
CC BY-SA 4.0
2019-07-17T16:04:14.883Z
This is really a physics question.
Earth Science Expatriate
<thunderstorm><convection><hazardous>
Energy Released From Thunderstorms
acpilot
# Energy Released From Thunderstorms

(Asked by: username_0 on 2017-06-26)

I'm a flight instructor looking for a better way to drive home the dangers related to flying in and around thunderstorms (TS). The FAA has mountains of operational guidance for airmen regarding TS avoidance but I'm looking for a punchy way to make the point stick with a technically correct comparison to a known quantity. An example of what I'd like to have is:  
"Think of it this way: over the course of 15 minutes, an average TS will release the energy roughly equal to //a well known event//."

Published guidance is basically, "TS are really, *really* dangerous. Like, really...for real. Up and down drafts can exceed 60mph and momentary jolts can easily exceed aircraft design limits [+3.8G and -1.5G for a typical general aviation plane]. Only fly on the upwind side and even then stay 20mi away because TS have been known to fling hail the size of watermelons miles downrange."

The technical guidance that is published is not meant for flight students and few pilots, even professionals, care about weather enough to learn more that what is required to pass tests.

Question: how much energy is dissipated (from maturity to dissipation) through the lifecycle of a TS?

**Tags:** thunderstorm, convection, hazardous

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: do this link help?http://forum.weatherzone.com.au/ubbthreads.php/topics/1147886/How_much_energy_is_in_a_thunde  
> **username_0**: Could be an answer  
> **username_1**: i know too litle abuot this to make it an answer,but the link is there for anybody to use,i did use the heading from the question to find it by google(energy released from thunderstorms).  
> **username_1**: even if this is spot on here it is strange if this havent been asked over at aviation.  
> **username_0**: Those guys are way too eager to close stuff.  I just cut out the middleman.  
> **username_2**: This is really a physics question.  

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## 0 answers

