Weather likely a factor in Toronto plane crash as record chill pours south

An intense storm on the front end of the latest Arctic Outbreak whipped up deadly flooding, widespread wind damage in the Northeast and seemingly contributed to the latest plane crash in Toronto. With that event out of the picture, some of the coldest air of winter is dropping southeast as another in a series of winter storms gets set to dump snow on the Southern United States.

Weather Watch

Mid-winter chill. One of the coldest blasts of winter has overtaken the central U.S. and will continue to seep east in the days ahead. In unusual fashion of late, the cold outbreak will threaten and break numerous record lows. Both Thursday and Friday could witness more than 50 each morning as lows below zero dip into Oklahoma and 20s make the Gulf Coast, with some spots seeing the coldest weather in years.

Storm train. Another in the conga line of winter storms will impact parts of the South, Midwest and into the lower Mid-Atlantic through Thursday. Winter storm warnings stretch from Kansas and Oklahoma to the beaches of North Carolina and Virginia.

Scorching South America. Rio in Brazil hit 111 on Monday, the hottest in over a decade there amid an extreme heat wave that is set to continue.

Lightning links

More than a dozen dead after winter storm brings floods to Kentucky, severe weather in East.

Lava meets snow as skiers take on Mount Etna's fiery slopes.

The roughest landing in Toronto

Weather was likely a factor in the Delta Airlines crash at Toronto’s Pearson International Airport on Monday that left a plane wingless and upside down amid blowing snow. Lessons learned in a Denver crash in 1987 may have contributed to all 80 aboard surviving.

Winds were blowing out of the west around 30 mph and gusting to at least 40 mph near the time of the 2:15 p.m. incident. With the plane landing from northeast to southwest, significant crosswind was present. Given repeated hourly observations of gusts around 40 mph, it is also likely that somewhat higher gusts occurred between hours.

Similar conditions and blowing snow were reported much of the day with temperatures in the teens following 8 inches of snow Sunday night.

Strong low pressure passed through the Northeast U.S. on Sunday, casting a wide net of powerful winds in its wake. Turbulence and low-level wind shear reports were common prior to the incident across the broader region, including with aircraft flying into or out of Pearson.

Although there may have been other factors, including the potential for landing gear issues, the aircraft in question is rated for landing crosswinds of 35 knots (40 mph). With the conditions as poor as they were, weather was almost certainly a force multiplier in whatever occurred.

The timing compounds bad news for the industry. In the last three weeks a D.C. accident left 67 dead, and there were deadly crashes in Philadelphia and Alaska amid several other incidents. This has all coincided with deep cuts to FAA under the DOGEing of America.

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Weekday morning newsletter by a journalist/forecaster that connects weather and climate change dots while occasionally stirring the pot.

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