A line of powerfully convective weather began to roll through Lakeland around noon on Thursday, effectively bringing the flying at Sun ‘n Fun to a halt for the afternoon. However, the tornado watches that had been issued earlier in the morning were canceled without any funnel clouds reported in the vicinity of Lakeland.
By 2:30 p.m. EDT, the storm front that was advancing from the southwest across the Gulf of Mexico was accompanied by lightning and gusty winds. Lakeland Linder Airport, the venue of the Sun ‘n Fun event, managed to avoid the worst of it at least initially.
This storm, which was splitting the state in two, was expected to pass through by late afternoon. By then, there would be a significant amount of standing water around the field, and the ground at the parking lots and campgrounds would be saturated and muddy, especially where vehicles had been driven (or attempted to be driven).
Early in the morning, the low weather prevented hundreds of planes from taking off to outrun the approaching front. However, by mid-morning, the weather had lifted enough to allow many flights to depart. Travelling north, the weather was clear. Jeremy King, the senior editor of Plane & Pilot, took off from LAL during that brief window and safely reached home a few hours later.
Many campers at LAL are not as fortunate and are facing a rather soggy few hours at the very least.
Discover more of Plane & Pilot’s Sun ‘n Fun 2022 coverage right here.
