Weather Hazards
Low-Level Wind Shear Image sourced from Menkor Aviation (n.d.) Winds can be an aircraft's greatest ally, yet also be its greatest nemesis. Have you ever felt like you were on a rocky boat while on board an aircraft prior to landing or during take-off? If you have, what you experienced was a low-level wind shear. According to the FAA (n.d.-a), low-level wind shear are abrupt winds that changes in speed and direction causing the aircraft to experience severe updrafts and downdrafts. In essence, it would feel like a piece of feather being thrown about by the wind in all directions. How Do They Come About? Low-level wind shear happens usually when there is a cold front, when there is a thunderstorm, areas of temperature inversions, or strong upper level winds that are more than 25 knots (FAA, n.d.-a). To add on, it can also be produced by heavy rains from severe thunderstorms which induces downbursts whereby the rain and rain-cooled air drops generate localized vortices which generates