We’re all familiar with the clouds that follow behind airplanes when warm jet exhaust meets the cold upper atmosphere, but if you’re lucky enough to find yourself near an airport on a humid day, you can experience a cloudy, visual treat that never fails to dazzle.

If you’re sitting at the airport and can hardly wait to get to your warm, tropical destination, you can get a small taste of the weather there before you even set foot on the airplane. The largest airport in Stockholm, Sweden, now has a nifty room called a “climate portal” that simulates weather conditions at your destination while you’re still at the gate.

A Charlotte-bound flight was diverted to Columbia, South Carolina, on Saturday evening due to strong storms over the Queen City. As if landing in South Carolina against your will isn’t bad enough, a storm developed over Columbia and zapped a passenger as she got off the U.S. Airways Express flight.

We've all moaned and groaned over flights cancelled due to weather. It's maddening to miss your connection (or even your whole trip) because of bad weather, but incidents like today's crash of Delta 1086 in a snowy New York City are exactly why they make that tough call that can affect millions of travelers.

In the past few weeks we've seen an endless stream of opinions come out about reclining seats and boarding order and carry-on luggage and this and that, but nobody discusses one of the biggest issues behind flying: the wonder wore off. At what point did we stop appreciating that we're able to fly?