By definition, turbulence breaks down into different intensities:
As I mentioned, most of us often experience everything up to and including moderate turbulence, but severe turbulence -- where there's actually momentarily loss of control -- is extremely rare. Today I definitely had a brief bout with severe. It was definitely the worst turbulence I've been in with this RV, that's for sure. Maybe the worst turbulence I've been in period. What was unusual was the yawing. The banking was unsettling but not as big of a deal -- the plane was getting instantly banked 40 degrees or more in either direction. What got me tense was the extreme yawing...it felt like the plane was getting blasted with repeated gusty side loads. And then there were the typical bouts of getting my head banged on the canopy. I had the plane throttled back and I had the "G" meter on the Dynon up...it maxed out at plus 2.8 Gs and minus 0.3 Gs. I wasn't about to try hold altitude or heading. I was at 6,500' initially, and I found myself anywhere between 6,000 and 7,000 feet at any given moment. The heading swung between about 270 and 330. I just let it do what it wanted to -- I wasn't gonna fight it -- I was heading roughly in the right direction, and I knew it would smooth out as soon as I got past the ridge line. I climbed to 8,500' and it was no better. I reported severe turbulence to SoCal approach and requested a continuation of the climb to 10,500'. As I climbed through 8,700' it smoothed right out. But those first 15 to 20 minutes of the flight were about as miserable as it gets. I was sure glad I didn't have a passenger with me.
Here's a shot of the "grapevine" area. I was using the GPS, but I was basically following the 5 freeway. My first stop was Harris Ranch, which is an exit off the 5 freeway where you can snag some fresh, top quality beef. Just follow the 5 and you can't miss it.
This is looking back to east, from 10,500', at the mountains that caused the problems in conjunction with strong northeasterly winds.
I don't remember exactly where this was, maybe somewhere west of Agua Dulce, looking north toward the Antelope Valley.
I zipped up to 3O8, Harris Ranch, and stopped in to grab a couple of filets -- vacuum packed on ice. I took off and crossed over the hills to the west and followed the 101 freeway up toward San Jose. Here you can see the view of the Bay Area up ahead.
Monterey Bay out there on the coast.
Looking back to the south at Monterey.
Closer to San Jose, here's looking ahead at the south bay. The arrow points to the hangar at Moffett, which you can't miss. Flying into Palo Alto, after you pass San Jose, NorCal approach usually instructs you to fly over Moffett and contact their tower for the transition to Palo Alto.
When I landed at Palo Alto the winds were light and it was warmer there than it was down at home. We barbecued the filet at my mother's house. Too bad it ended up tasting like the salmon she last grilled on that BBQ!