Planning A Path - Honeywell IntuVue RDR-4000 Pilot's Manual

IntuVue RDR-4000 Weather Radar Pilot's Guide

PLANNING A PATH

Remember to plan a deviation path early. Simply skirting the red or
magenta portion of a cell is not enough. Wherever possible, plan an
avoidance path for all weather echoes which appear beyond 100 nm
since this indicates they are quite dense. If a REACT field is shown,
plan to avoid that area since there may be weather there that the radar
cannot detect. Refer to the FAA Approved Airplane Flight Manual and
to the FAA Advisory Circulars referenced on page 3 for detailed
information on flying in the vicinity of and avoiding thunderstorms and
turbulence.
The most intense
echoes indicate
severe thunderstorms.
Remember that hail
may fall several nm
from the cloud, and
hazardous turbulence
may extend as much
as 20 nm from the
cloud. You should
avoid the most
PLAN A WEATHER AVOIDANCE PATH IN ADVANCE
intense echoes by at
least 20 nm, if possible. If the Hazard Display features are installed,
avoid areas with hail or lightning icons by a similar distance. As echoes
diminish in intensity, you can reduce the distance by which you avoid
them.
The lightning and hail icons provide additional clues as to whether
reflectivity indications are associated with convective developments and
provide an indication that the convection may be generating hail and/or
lightning. As with any weather radar system, the crew must integrate all
possible information including information from sources other than
weather radar such as forecast conditions, PIREPs, ground based
weather systems and Air Traffic Control when making deviation and
penetration decisions.
Also, note that by definition Clear Air Turbulence is always possible in
areas of no displayed reflectivity.
Principles of Weather Radar Use D201002000008
40 Rev 1, December 2014