On my AirVenture pilgrimage from New Jersey to Oshkosh many summers ago, I was watching a couple of small but darkening red splotches showing up ahead on the Nexrad screen of my handheld GPS navigator. This was in the early days of having weather radar displays available on portables, and I was glad I had it.
The two storms were in tight formation, on the move, and bearing down on my next VOR waypoint, Youngstown, Ohio. It took a minute to get through the busy radio traffic to the enroute controller. I told him what I was seeing and asked for a dogleg to the south to another VOR. He agreed and revised my IFR clearance…