I am looking at flying to Bologna Friday and am currently trying to work out if it’s feasible to risk flying across the Alps via N850 between RIPUS (Near Zurich) down to ODINA.
What are the best ways to look at weather for the crossing?
Windy is currently showing good winds at FL140 (I’ll likely be at FL150/FL160) but is showing the Jetstream core above being 100-125KTS – will this make things a little difficult/very bumpy? Anyone with experience in the know?
I guess my alternate is down to Montpellier/Beziers then across south of Nice to Bologna?
My best guess is to go down to MPL IFR then across to Bologna rather than direct via the Airways across the Mountains with that frontal system/jetstream combination.
Yep. But still impossible to tell today if the flight is on Friday.
Also, please note the IFR routings along the Cote d’Azur are not available below FL150.
Good idea to stop, stretch and refuel at LFMT.
LFMV is also available, a bit closer to LIPE, also with all the necessary equipment.
Fly safe.
The best strategy for the Alps is to not do IMC over them 
Climb before you get there, check you can see all the way across, and then head across them.
Your DA40 has no ice protection…
I’ve never had a bumpy ride over the Alps, flying at FL160-180.
Use windy.com, ECMWF, look at medium cloud and cloud tops. If the CT are too high, check if there is high cloud in those places since that might be doing it. But the wx picture is not great, for a DA40 operating ceiling.
Some closely spaced isobars on that MSLP chart.
Yes LFMT is very good; the police don’t want to see anybody so you just wave at the fuel man, get filled up and on you go
Nice is IME an aggressive unit and quite unlike most of France but we need another thread on that. This one is about strategies for crossing the Alps.
Friday 4th Aug 1200:
Rain/thunder
Medium cloud
Cloud tops
High cloud
Not all the high cloud coincides with the high tops, so there will be a lot of high stuff there all the way up from a lower level. In a DA40, no ice protection, no.
You may get lucky and find holes, but I would not do this in my TB20 with full TKS; anyway one might use up all the fluid.
You can use the GRAMET too but it tends to be fiction.
“IFR” does not mean much because the wx does not care what papers you have. If your plane ices up, it will still plummet.
In normal times, the lowest MEA across the Alps is the route running N of SRN which is FL140.
Peter wrote:
Not all the high cloud coincides with the high tops, so there will be a lot of high stuff there all the way up from a lower level. In a DA40, no ice protection, no.You may get lucky and find holes, but I would not do this in my TB20 with full TKS; anyway one might use up all the fluid.
You can use the GRAMET too but it tends to be fiction.
Looking at Windy I would be looking to get down to the south coast of France as a stop and review. I was going to do the same thing at the weekend to go Brescia but the other pilot was adamant on a particular route which eventually killed the flight as most of eastern France and the Alps was totally unsuitable.
The problem with “stop and review” is that you can get stuck in some sh*thole for days. I did that once at Wangen-Lachen (LSPV), which is normally a nice place but rest assured it is not in the rain (true for most places) and I never did that again after that. See the early Crete and Santorini trips here and those were VFR for good measure.
The Alps are best crossed in one go on a suitable day and that is the best way to go somewhere south of the Alps. Fair enough if you want to see say Montpellier then stop there on the way (it is quite nice).
And of course check the IR and radar images on the morning of the flight
Peter wrote:
The problem with “stop and review” is that you can get stuck in some sh*thole for days.
Agreed! Also done the same. Looking at the weather for this specific trip however, if one was to get to Montpellier/Cannes neither of them are bad places to be and there is a good probability of getting to the destination as well. One may even choose to the last leg VFR.
Worse is launching to towards to something marginal and then having divert somewhere you didn’t plan for, where you haven’t requested immigration and being stuck there.
France is a major problem with diversions due to the 24/48hr PN. Much easier if you have a French speaker who can do some “BS work” on the phone. Another reason I avoid risking diversions (and same with Germany) when going to Croatia.
Friday is bad wx, end of story.
