Near-record winds over the Northeast push passenger planes to speeds over 800 mph

[BumRushDaShow]

Last edited Mon Feb 19, 2024, 07:38 PM - Edit history (1)

Source: NPR

February 19, 20245:00 AM ET



Strong high-altitude winds over the Mid-Atlantic sped up sky traffic on Saturday night, getting passengers on at least two commercial planes to their destinations early, after both aircraft hit supersonic speeds topping 800 mph.

Winds at cruising altitude peaked at about 265 mph, according to the Washington, D.C., area National Weather Service office — the second-highest wind speed logged in the region since recordings began in 1948. The highest-ever wind speed recorded in the area at a similar altitude was 267 mph on Dec. 6, 2002.

"For those flying eastbound in this jet, there will be quite a tail wind," the NWS warned in a tweet. Sure enough, that tailwind helped cut down the flight time for passengers on a Virgin Atlantic flight from D.C. to London by 45 minutes, according to the tracker FlightAware. The Boeing 787 reached a maximum ground speed of 802 mph, surpassing the speed of sound (767 mph).

But, as The Washington Post explained, the plane didn't actually break the sound barrier. "Although its ground speed — a measure that combines the plane's actual speed and the additional push from the wind — was greater than the speed of sound, it was still moving through the surrounding air at its ordinary cruise speed. It just so happened that the surrounding air was moving unusually fast," the Post reported.

Read more: https://www.npr.org/2024/02/19/1232325097/near-record-winds-over-the-northeast-push-passenger-planes-to-speeds-over-800-mp

---

Link to tweet

NWS Baltimore-Washington
@NWS_BaltWash
·
Follow
This evening's weather balloon launch detected the 2nd strongest upper-level wind recorded in local history going back to the mid 20th century! Around 34,000-35,000 ft, winds peaked around 230 kt (265 mph!). For those flying eastbound in this jet, there will be quite a tail wind.
A colorful graphic highlighting the second strongest upper-level wind in local history. To the left is a profile of the weather balloon launched this evening. To the right is a view of all upper-level winds across the eastern half of the U.S. An array of cool colors are utilized in the legend ranging from blues to purples and then whites.
8:53 PM · Feb 17, 2024

ETA - from the no-paywall WaPo article on this - https://www.washingtonpost.com/weather/2024/02/18/record-jet-stream-winds-dc-flights/


High-altitude winds as simulated by the European model at 7 p.m. Saturday. Winds shown are displayed in knots; multiply by 1.15 to convert to mph. (WeatherBell)

[Vinca]

1. Interesting to know. It seems, out of the blue, we had incredibly strong winds outside.

They woke me up they were so loud.

[sinkingfeeling]

2. I still don't understand why the commercial planes didn't

actually break the sound barrier.

[underpants]

4. It basically rode a wave

It was moving at that speed but everything in that area was too.

My take.

[louis-t]

24. Kind of like a "warp shell".

I'm surprised they weren't transported back to the stone age like the Twilight Zone episode.

[PTL_Mancuso]

25. The only thing that save them was gremlin out on the wing!

Just ask William Shatner!

[Blues Heron]

5. the speed through the air was less than the speed of sound.

only the speed over ground was faster. Like being in a boat going downstream - your speed through the water is slower than your speed over the riverbed.

[pfitz59]

8. Speed through air versus speed over the ground

Ground speed is airspeed plus wind speed (jet stream). The jet is not designed to break the sound barrier. It is not physically capable. But it can ride a 'wave' of air. Inside the body of air the jet is cruising at its speed. The air (tailwind) is moving at its own speed. Now reverse this to a headwind and ground speed drops. The jet heading into the wind may be flying at 500 knots, but a 100 knot headwind drops groundspeed to 400 knots. This is one reason arrival times are estimated. Its also a reason professional pilots earn big bucks. They have to monitor 'winds aloft' and try and find the most economical altitudes throughout the flight.

[sinkingfeeling]

12. Thanks.

[underpants]

3. Checked a jet stream sight - looks like they caught it whipping over Greenland

But I could be wrong.

That’s fast.

[CaptainTruth]

6. I was on a Japan-US flight with a 125+ mph tail wind.

We got home an hour & a half early!

None of us complained.

[BumRushDaShow]

9. I have been on flights where they hop the jetstream

and have shaved 30 - 45 minutes off the time (and have been happy and knew they were jetstream hopping).

[CaptainTruth]

14. And saved fuel, I'm sure. A win-win.

[BumRushDaShow]

15. Yup.

Ships do it too on the ocean currents, whether the Gulf Stream or catching the trade wind currents.

[Hermit-The-Prog]

16. I ain't ridin' any boat that reaches 802 mph ground speed.

[BumRushDaShow]

18. You could buy Poppy's boat and do 75 then!

https://apnews.com/article/bush-fidelity-speedboat-auction-cf4c10752fbe8c6bae47fdfce6f9905f

[Hermit-The-Prog]

20. That's too fast for trolling for crappie.

Besides, if it takes 3 axles to carry it, I don't have anything capable of pulling it. (At 1000 HP it should move itself on land or water!)

[BumRushDaShow]

23. !!!!!

[CaptainTruth]

19. LOL!!!

[Oopsie Daisy]

7. If I had chosen to fly First Class, I'd feel cheated with an early arrival.

I'd at least want to finish my tasty meal and a few cocktails.

[Randomthought]

10. Happen to us on KLM last Nov.

I still haven't figured this out since we were westbound. We left Amsterdam an hour and a half late and arrived in Minneapolis about 20 minutes early. I looked at the flight tracker on my screen at my seat and a few times we were going well over 700 mph .

[BumRushDaShow]

11. If there was a strong High Pressure system in the right place (like over/near Greenland)

then the clockwise flow would push a wind current westward.

[Randomthought]

31. Thanks that explains it

Severe weather over all of UK and northern Europe that day

[3825-87867]

13. Honest officer...

I was only going 55 but a 90 mph tail wind made me exceed the speed limit. So you see, it wasn't my fault!

[Karadeniz]

17. I was just looking at videos of the horrendous effect of high crosswinds on

big planes trying to land.

[usaf-vet]

21. Not a pilot but aware of the dangers of wind sheer with planes taking off and landing. So what would happen if ......

....... a plane flying perpendicular (90 degrees) to the 260 mph winds flew into the wind?

[Lochloosa]

26. You would crash.

[mitch96]

22. So there is hope for greater than light speed? Warp drive maybe?? nt

[Kennah]

29. We simply need to apply a tachyon field. Always needs more tachyon.

[Kennah]

27. Did they bring a Flux Capacitor?

[Tree-Hugger]

28. Can passengers feel that?

Do you get a sense of how fast the plane is going when you are a passenger? I have never been on a plane in my life so I don't know what that feels like..

[BumRushDaShow]

30. Not really

I don't think there has been turbulence associated with it... at least unless/until a plane starts descending through it (and in that case, it would theoretically only be brief).

[Codifer]

32. Twilight Zone

The Odyssey of Flight 33

That was some kinda tail wind that blew them back to 1939.

...and a short clip:

oops.... this one:

&list=PLnbz3G6XU-TrR1EcJkHpVIvtAC7q8luaX&index=1

[LastLiberal in PalmSprings]

33. When I was an Air Force navigator we ran head-on into a similar jet stream.

We were making reasonable progress as we flew westward across the North Atlantic (Iceland and Greenland) but when we coasted in at Gander . . . we f*cking stopped. Even though our true airspeed was 420 knots our groundspeed was close to 275 knots. It felt like we were hovering.

So while the news is gee-whizzing about 800+ speeds eastbound, the opposite effect is ignored.