RDU (KRDU):

KRDU 201251Z 03009KT 1SM -SN BKN004 OVC012 M03/M06 A2967 RMK AO2 SLP049 P0000 T10281056
KRDU 201051Z 03011KT 1SM -SN BR BKN006 OVC014 M02/M04 A2961 RMK AO2 SLP027 P0003 T10171039
KRDU 201043Z 03011G20KT 1SM -SN BR BKN008 OVC020 M02/M04 A2960 RMK AO2 CIG 005V012 P0003

Standford (KTTA):

KTTA 201242Z AUTO 35011G15KT 1 1/2SM -SN BKN008 OVC012 M02/M03 A2967 RMK AO2 P0001
KTTA 201222Z AUTO 35011G16KT 3SM -SN OVC014 M02/M03 A2966 RMK AO2 P0001
KTTA 201203Z AUTO 36014G19KT 2SM -SN BKN012 OVC020 M01/M03 A2963 RMK AO2 P0001

Last Friday ended a three week, six city tour with a return flight from Omaha to RDU by way of Atlanta. Part of the three weeks was a semi family reunion on Lake Michigan, so it wasn’t all work.

My flight out of Omaha was delayed an hour so I missed my connecting flight in Atlanta. Once in Hot’lanta I heard on CNN about the deadly truck accident on I-40 and figured I’d have a long commute home from RDU.

Just before I boarded my connecting flight to RDU I caught a glance at the weather map, again on CNN, and notice several ugly looking cells developing in and around Raleigh. I was surprised that my flight wasn’t delayed, but didn’t really think anymore of it.

No sooner did we begin our initial decent into RDU when the captain informed us that the airport was closed due to nasty weather and that we’d be circling for the next 20 to 30 minutes till it cleared. After 30 minutes the captain returned again with the news that we were running low on fuel, the weather had not cleared and we would be diverted to Greensboro.

Not 20 seconds later we were informed again by the flight crew that RDU was now open and we were second inline for landing.

On what felt like a final approach (I didn’t have a window seat) was suddenly aborted and we were off to Greensboro. Nasty old wind shear had once again closed RDU.

After landing at GSO the flight attendant told us that the flight we were following into RDU had such a hard landing that several people had to be taken off the aircraft on stretchers. The wife mentioned in this WRAL story was seated just 5 or 6 rows in front of me. (WRAL story here)

We departed GSO for RDU and arrived without any problems. The terminal was jam packed with people and the arrival/departure monitors were red with delays and cancellations.

On my way home police had just blocked part of Penny at Kildaire for something. I didn’t really care at the time but found out the next day that lighting from the nasty thunderstorm that shut down RDU had burned down a multi-million dollar home. And I do mean down to the ground.

Around 5:30pm Saturday a twin engine Piper Seneca had trouble with its landing gear and was forced to belly land at RDU. (WRAL story here)

This combined with the death of acrobatic pilot Jim LeRoy at a Dayton Ohio air show kinda made me want to stay on the ground this weekend.

Hope someone wasn’t mad at me.