Sucker hole

Sucker hole is a colloquial term referring to a short spate of good weather that "suckers" sailors into leaving port just in time for a storm to resume at full force.
It can also refer to breaks in cloud cover, which lead astronomers into trying to make observations, only to have the cloud close in again.
"Sucker hole" is also a term in aviation, which refers to a smaller form of the same phenomenon, but with the observer (the pilot) above the hole instead of below, and implying that the pilot wishes to fly through the hole. It is a very dangerous situation because the pilot cannot tell from above how deep the hole is, and indeed the hole may go all the way to the ground leaving the pilot no way to climb out of the hole once the decision has been made to fly into the hole. It can also refer to the opposite situation where a pilot sees a "sucker hole" when he is under the weather and flies up through it to get on top of the clouds. The weather can then close up the hole and strand the pilot on top of the weather - a dangerous situation if the pilot is not instrument rated or doesn't have a properly equipped aircraft for flying through the weather.

Main Menu

See Also

Main Menu