VCTS

My student sent a text: "TAF says VTCS what shd we do?"

 I replied "VCTS usually means to the East."

 As if you can actually know anything about the weather!

At the airport, we had the above view.  Looking West!  "See," I said, pointing away from the cell, "go 25,000 miles this way and there's a storm."  He understood that I was joking.  The WSI terminal at the FBO showed that this cell had hail and topped FL450.

We were doing pattern work, and I kept an eye on the NEXRAD, watching the cell make its stately way north of us.

But that's not what we saw out the window.  Even though the radar view was only a couple of minutes old, it looked like the storm had turned toward us.  We called it quits.

On the ground, we could see lightning and virga to the northeast.  The radar showed clear there.

We got the airplane tied down.  The gust front hit when we were halfway to the FBO door.