We're having our detailed flyby and safety briefings this morning. Meanwhile, the weather forecast both here and along the first three or four stops is appalling, due to a giant and very active system sweeping across the midwest. Thunderstorms, hail, winds gusting over 30 mph are all in the forecast for the next few days. What will happen...? All we can do is wait and see.
Update: we had the official Lockheed Martin weather briefing from Dale in Colorado by Skype. The briefer basically confirmed that tomorrow's weather sucks through to Spearfish ND over the first three legs. There'll be a strengthening surface low extending to Nebraska, coupled with a warm front extending from there to Iowa and south Minnesota, plus a trailing cold front extending to Oklahoma City. This leads to scattered showers and thunderstorm over the Iowa portion of the route, but the air is still so unstable that the level of activity is uncertain. Further to the NW, where the route takes us, the weather deteriorates markedly and will likely be unstable in marginal VFR with patchy IFR and heavy precip over the second and third legs. Translation: totally yucky. This evening he forecasts very strong winds from thunderstorm clusters that form bow echoes typically at this time of year in this area. Translation: batten down the hatches!
