Hello again and thanks for reading the 15th edition of EZNews!
We appreciate those that have recently joined, renewed their membership or signed up for auto-renewal. We truly appreciate your generosity which helps support our continued innovation moving forward. We look forward to more continued growth and for all members to enjoy the simplicity of EZWxBrief.
EZWxBrief version 1.2.0 was released this past month to improve precipitation forecasts shown on the EZMap especially beyond a 24 hour lead time. You can read the latest release notes here. We are still working on changes to the underlying data infrastructure to improve the user experience and speed of the progressive web app. Those changes will be rolled out over the next six to eight months.
Outage
Currently the Gridded LAMP MOS forecasts within the EZImagery are unavailable and have been for the six weeks. There is a problem with the server that hosts the LAMP data at the NWS. A ticket has been opened on this, and we have requested that the ticket be escalated, which it has been. However, we do not currently have any estimate for when this valuable weather guidance will return. We apologize for the inconvenience.
What others are saying about EZWxBrief...
We get feedback from customers almost every day about what they like and new features they'd like to see with the EZWxBrief progressive web app. We appreciate any and all comments, so keep them rolling in to our support team.
"I like using your briefing product and I am reading the Pilot Weather eBook through for the second time. I feel quite a bit more comfortable flying when I have a good mental picture of the weather en route and EZWxBrief does an excellent job pulling the story together for me."
- John E.
If you are an EZWxBrief member, please check out our customer referral program. For every new member you refer and they join and pay for a membership, we will extend your membership by a month!
Now taking preorders for The Skew-T log (p) and Me eBook
As was announced on June 4th we are now taking preorders for Scott's new eBook, The Skew-T log (p) and Me: A primer for pilots. It formally releases at AirVenture on Monday, July 25th, but you can preorder the book today to get the lowest price that includes any free major revisions that are made through July 26, 2027. This is a limited time offer and the prices will increase on Sunday, July 24, 2022. The eBook will contain over 200 charts, diagrams and images and is expected to be over 250 pages in length. It is the most comprehensive book written on the Skew-T log (p) diagram specifically for pilots. Currently this is only available in eBook format, but there is a possibility of providing a limited print edition later this year or early next year.
Here's a little excerpt from the new book to whet your appetite...
In the overnight hours with clear skies and calm winds near the surface, radiative cooling can produce a very pronounced and often shallow temperature inversion hugging the surface. Shown below in this 1-hour forecast sounding (F1) near the Raleigh Durham International Airport in Raleigh, North Carolina (KRDU), the surface temperature at 11Z is forecast to be 8°C (46°F) and the temperature at 1,000 feet is nearly 20°C (68°F) – a difference of 12°C or 22°F within 700 feet of the surface! As the sun rises at daybreak, it quickly warms the ground, and the surface temperature begins to increase and mix out. This causes the cooler air near the surface to mix with the much warmer air aloft quickly eroding the inversion through the morning hours.
Looking at this nocturnal temperature inversion for Raleigh Durham, notice that the temperature and dewpoint are essentially equal at the surface. While this shallow saturated condition may engender some very patchy ground fog near rivers and ponds, it usually only results in reduced surface visibility. In other words, it is not a condition that sounds an alarm for a widespread radiation-fog event. In fact, the sky remained perfectly clear at Raleigh Durham on this day. In the end, there’s more to producing fog than just high relative humidity, clear skies, and calm winds.
New online training subscription service!
Backed by popular demand, you will have the opportunity to purchase an annual subscription for online training. This service allows you over the next year to book up to ten 1-on-1 training sessions each lasting 60 minutes with Dr. Scott Dennstaedt. The cost of the annual subscription is $695/year. This is a $900 value! You will have the opportunity to renew for an additional year when your subscription expires. This is being offered for a limited time or until all slots are filled.
With this subscription you can book a private session to dive deeper into any aviation weather topic. Want to learn more about what causes icing, turbulence or thunderstorms, then book an hour-long session to discuss that topic. Perhaps you want to review the weather along a route for a flight you are contemplating. While we are not your formal briefer, these route-based sessions are designed to help you better understand how to interpret the observations and forecast guidance available in the EZWxBrief progressive web app so that you gain more confidence in your decision.
Here is the fine print. Each training session must be scheduled in 60-minute increments. Therefore, sessions cannot be split into shorter lengths. All sessions must be booked for available times Monday through Friday with the first session on these days beginning at 9:00 am eastern time and the last session ending at 5:00 pm eastern time on most days. Weekend and evening sessions are not available at this time. Scheduling is subject to schedule Scott's current availability which can be determined when you reserve an hour-long session. There will be blackout times due to aviation events (e.g., AirVenture), holidays and for other circumstances as they arise. Unused training sessions cannot be carried over to the next subscription year.
For details on how to purchase an annual subscription and book a session, please click here.
AirVenture 2022
EZWxBrief will not have a booth this year at the event, but Dr. Scott Dennstaedt will be doing five presentations that you won't want to miss. The schedule and topics are listed below.
Mon, July 25 - 8:30 a.m. Getting started with the Skew-T - Forum Stage 7
Tues, July 26 - 10 a.m. Five things you must know about datalink weather - AOPA Pavilion
Tues, July 26 - 1 p.m. Dangers of low-topped convection - Forum Stage 1
Wednesday, July 27 - 2:30 p.m. Advanced Skew-T concepts - Forum Stage 3
Thurs, July 28 - 10:30 a.m. Personal weather minimums to avoid VFR into IMC - NAFI Booth
A week before AirVenture starts, keep an eye out for our special edition of EZWxChat for The Daily Weather Roundup: Getting to Oshkosh on YouTube live for an overview of the weather challenges across the country for those planning to fly to the event. The first episode will start at 3 pm EDT beginning on Monday, July 18 and will be daily at the same time through Saturday, July 23. Each episode will be 10 to 20 minutes in length. Please subscribe to the channel and turn on notifications to avoid missing the live program. Given the lower number of viewers for last year's event compared to previous years, this will likely be the last year for this particular program.
Please install EZWxBrief as a progressive web app
For members new to EZWxBrief - you won't find EZWxBrief in the Apple App Store or Google Play store. In fact, if you do that, you'll be directed to the wrong app. For the best user experience, EZWxBrief is optimized to run as a progressive web app (PWA) and must be installed on your device. This is especially important for smaller handheld devices (e.g., iPhone or iPad). This only takes a few seconds of your time for each device. Please see the Pilots Guide for more information on how to install EZWxBrief as a PWA on your devices.
Changes to The Daily EZ Weather Brief are coming
Hopefully you've had a chance to view The Daily EZ Weather Brief each weekday morning that gives pilots an overview of the flying weather for the day across the conterminous U.S. and southern Canada. Given the reduced number of viewers for this daily program over the last two months, number of days of the week will be reduced from five to four starting in August. You can go to the EZWxBrief YouTube channel Tuesday through Friday at 7:20 a.m. EDT to watch the live broadcast or view the recorded version that will get posted shortly thereafter.
Is your airport missing from the EZMap?
If so, we can add it to our database such that it will display on the map as a marker for the EZForecast. At the moment, we limit the number of airport markers to improve the speed of the application, however, if you would like to have a marker added for your home or other favorite airport, please let us know by reaching out to our support team. We just need to know the airport identifier and we'll do our best to add it shortly thereafter.
EZTip of the week
Starting in August (exact date TBD), all subscribers will be receiving an email with a short tip of the week to help you learn how to get the most from the EZWxBrief progressive web app. This will be pushed out via email on Monday morning each week and available in the EZWxBrief blog under the new EZTip category. If you don't want to receive this weekly EZTip, please feel free to unsubscribe and we won't bug you any more.
Most pilots are weatherwise, but some are otherwise™
Dr. Scott Dennstaedt
Weather Systems Engineer
Founder, EZWxBrief™
CFI & former NWS meteorologist
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