Irene flight path SWA 225

[pktbull]

This is my first post.  As I was listening to Washington center traffic on 8/27 during Irene, this lone SWA flight went directly through the most dense path of the storm.  I couldn't receive cockpit transmissions, only call backs from the controller acknowledging "severe turbulence".  I couldn't find any reports since the flight fortunately made a safe landing then continued.  What was most intriguing was the flight path. See link to the final with weather. I have a PDF of the actual pass through during the rough part but don't know how to post.  http://flightaware.com/live/flight/SWA225/history/20110827/1340Z/KMHT/KTPA

[BigSky]

I wonder why they chose to fly directly through the storm

[KBED1185]

Depending on altitude and winds aloft, maybe the best track was through the relatively "calm" eye of the storm rather than continuing to face the spiraling bands on the west side of the storm, which surely would have produced headwinds up into the 80-100 knot range in the southwesterly direction.  Beyond that, it's hard to say without taking a closer look at the high-altitude airways and fixes as well as a layered Doppler view of the clouds and a chart of winds aloft and maybe the PIREPS for that day.

[BigSky]

Good point

[pktbull]

The transmissions that I caught where severe weather was reported was only in the dense areas.  I recall this was a busy time for Potomac Center, and many pilot requests were denied due to the vectoring around problematic areas. Rough areas were moderate to FL250 for the most part.  This guy simply stood out as the only one following a north south plan right down the middle, with no obvious alley.