Hello and welcome to the 7th edition of EZNews!
We really appreciate all of those subscribers that have recently joined, renewed their membership or signed up for auto-renewal. There have been no releases this past month to discuss, but we are continuing to advance our technology and improve the customer experience.
If you have any questions about using the EZWxBrief progressive web app or run into an issue or bug, the best way to reach us is to send an email through our Contact Us page on the EZWxBrief website. This is so we can consolidate all of your feedback, questions and comments into our support tracking software. Please understand that we do not offer telephone support. Our support team usually responds to email support requests within 24 hours, but often much sooner. We appreciate your help and feedback and look forward to hearing from you!
Don't forget to install EZWxBrief as a PWA
Many customers have mentioned that they can't find EZWxBrief on the App Store or Google Play Store. That's because EZWxBrief is a progressive web app (PWA). It literally takes less time to install EZWxBrief as a PWA than it does searching for and installing any other native app from the App Store. In just a matter of a few seconds, the app can be installed on any devices including laptops and desktop computers as long as you are running Safari or Google Chrome (Mozilla's Firefox is no longer supporting PWAs). Moreover, the EZWxBrief PWA takes up no space on your device like you typically experience with many native apps. To learn how to install EZWxBrief as a PWA, sign in to the app, click or tap on the Start button and then select View the Pilots Guide from the Quick Start menu. Near the beginning of the Pilots Guide you'll see instructions on how to install EZWxBrief as a progressive web app on various devices.
New to EZWxBrief?
We want you to get the most from the EZWxBrief progressive web app. Any new application is sure to be unfamiliar and may not be immediately obvious on how to get started. Consequently, we have created a YouTube video that provides a 13-minute overview of the basic features of the EZWxBrief progressive web app. We think this video should get you pointed in the right direction so you can begin enjoying the simplicity of EZWxBrief.
For a deeper dive of how to use the app to plan a route you are proposing, please consider purchasing a 1-on-1 online session. You'll not only learn how to use EZWxBrief as it was designed, but you'll also learn more about preflight weather analysis and increase your weather acuity and confidence. Visit https://avwxtraining.com/book-online to reserve your 30- or 60-minute slot.
Looking for a great holiday gift this year for a spouse, new pilot or flight instructor?
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You can purchase the 400-page soft cover book. Just visit the authors' Pilot Weather Book website and enter promo code cyber2021 when viewing the shopping cart to save $10. Or purchase the full color eBook version (Please note: the free Javelin eReader is required to view the eBook) and enter the promo code cyber2021ebook to save $10. Both of these offers are available through December 14, 2021, so don't delay. Please understand that due to the extra delay introduced by the United States Postal Service (USPS), orders placed after December 14th will not likely arrive by Christmas Day.
Here's what pilots are saying about this book...
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The EZWxBrief blog and YouTube videos
Don't forget to check out the EZWxBrief blog where you can find the latest EZWxBrief release notes and these EZNewsletters as well as learn more about the progressive web app and other aviation weather topics. Moreover, each Tuesday at 3 pm EDT you can tune in to Facebook Live to hear EZWxChat, a program to discuss topics related to the app and aviation weather. You do not need a Facebook account, but if you can't join live all of the episodes are recorded and made available on the EZWxBrief YouTube channel. Please spread the word about these educational opportunities.
Ice is NOT nice
As convective SIGMETs morph into G-AIRMETs for airframe icing over the next month, it's time to prepare for the cold season. Not the cold and flu season (although you should prepare for that as well), but the wintertime concern of lower freezing levels, icing in clouds and precipitation including freezing rain.
The EZRoute Profile in EZWxBrief provides an accurate depiction of icing conditions along the proposed route of flight. However, there may be some cases where you see icing depicted below the melting level as shown below. What is going on?
On the EZRoute Profile, isotherms are depicted every 10 degrees Celsius on both the icing profile and wind profile. This is primarily to avoid having a very cluttered display. The 0°C isotherm (32°F) is depicted by a dashed red line across the route (in this case, KLNK to KDEN). Notice there's a distinctive bend in the 0°C isotherm in proximity to the Cambridge Municipal Airport (KCSB). This likely represents a temperature boundary and where you may also have an isothermal layer or temperature inversion.
Notice that there is a substantial amount of icing depicted below the melting level which would seem to be a bit unusual. In fact, it's likely the EZWxBrief application is not presenting a second (lower) freezing level closer to the surface.
This temperature profile is much easier to see on a Skew-T log (p) diagram as shown above for North Platte Regional Airport (KLBF). This is a sounding from a weather balloon (radiosonde) that was launched at 23Z (valid 00Z). There are multiple freezing levels here, one at 12,000 feet and another around 4,000 feet MSL. Although the temperature at the surface is +4°C, this is courtesy of a rather deep temperature inversion giving rise to the potential for icing between these two altitudes which is nicely depicted on the EZRoute Profile view above. This airframe icing is likely due to freezing rain (or drizzle) aloft creating a supercooled LARGE drop (SLD) icing aloft.
Most pilots are weatherwise, but some are otherwiseâ„¢
Dr. Scott Dennstaedt
Weather Systems Engineer
Founder, EZWxBrief
CFI & former NWS meteorologist
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