"The climate throughout the state of Illinois is fairly consistent and considered temperate, which means that four distinct seasons are experienced. The northeastern part of the state (which bordersLake Michigan) is the only area that experiences weather patterns inconsistent to those of the rest of the state. These inconsistencies are due to the Lake Effect. "
-www.tripadvisor.com
"Five factors control the continental climate of Illinois: 1) the sun, 2) weather systems, 3) topography, 4) urban areas, and 5) Lake Michigan. Two major controls are latitude (reflecting the amount of solar input) and weather systems (air masses and cyclonic storms). The effects of topography, Lake Michigan, and urban areas are of lesser significance because they influence local climate conditions, rather than conditions statewide."
-Illinois State Water Survey
This adverse weather has its affects on air travel throughout the US. According to the weather channel...
"While its climate statistics are roughly on par with our No. 2 worst weather airport,Detroit, it's the sheer volume of traffic (over 44 million passengers in the first 8 months of 2010 alone) and resulting delays that push O'Hare to the No. 1 ranking.
There's not much in the meteorological spectrum Chicago doesn't sample in a given year. Snow ... ranks in the top 5 for measurable snow days annually (30 days). Precipitation ... generally wetter (36 inches per year) than Detroit. Thunderstorms ... over 50 percent more days (38 days a year) than the 3 major New York City metro airports.
One difficulty O'Hare faces is its arrivals approach from the east. Given that weather systems, generally speaking, move from west to east, this makes flying around adverse weather difficult.
This posed a problem during the "Octobomb" windstorm in late October 2010. Strong head or tailwinds can push planes out of optimal spacing on O'Hare's three parallel runways preferred for arrivals. The result, arrivals per hour were down 36 percent from a normal day, due solely to high winds.
More commonly, south or southwest crosswinds can trigger delays. Yes, a sunny, mild, breezy day in Chicago can still leave its mark on O'Hare's on-time performance.
Meteorologist Jen Carfagno says wind shear alerts will go off on runways when the wind meets a certain threshold. "If that happens, planes are grounded for a period of time. This is similar to having to get out of the pool if lightning is seen or thunder is heard, waiting until the storm passes."
After a major weather event, (thunderstorms, winter storm), it can take roughly a day for the backlog to clear O'Hare."
No comments:
Post a Comment