Pilot Weather Wisdom

I’m presently on a cruise with Anchorage as the starting point. According to the locals, it has been a dismal summer weatherize. Looks like the Aleutian low-pressure system is trying to hang on. My two weather books describe it as a semi-permanent, subpolar area of low pressure located in the Gulf of Alaska near the Aleutian Islands. The area generates storms (cyclogenesis), and they can pack a punch. It is most active during the late fall to late spring. If you watch the American show Greatest Catch, it’s about crab fishermen dealing with high winds and seas from this weather system. While flying to and fro Asia, we use some airports as plan B along the Aleutian Islands. Not sure if I want to duck into these places.

Even though the sign claims Anchorage is the air crossroads of the world, it is also a low-pressure hangout. Students learn a semi-permeant low pressure exists around 60 degrees north. Anchorage is 61 degrees north. Neat to visit the land of the midnight sun.