FedEx Ants Dodge Radar Storms

UPDATE: Thanks to alert reader Steve, we now have a link to a larger, clearer, and dated version on this site. From this video, it is clear that it's legitimate. In fact I created this radar animation for the day, and in fact there were severe storms moving southwest over Memphis, before dissipating on August 22, 2003 (or 23rd if you favor Z time). The storms were moving clockwise around the edge of a large high pressure system centered in the Plains.

ORIGINAL POST:

An interesting video is making the rounds on the Net this week that claims to show FedEx flights incoming to Memphis dodging strong thunderstorms.

You can discuss the video, and the havoc that its popularity caused, on the AirlinePilotCentral.com website.

I first heard about this video from office-mate Henry yesterday morning, who says he saw a longer, more zoomed out version (if you've seen it, write in). He was too slack to send me a link so I found this one yesterday evening.

I was suspicious of the video on first seeing it, as most amazing videos are in fact too good to be true. The first thing that I noticed was that the storms are moving "backwards." It's very unusual to see southwestward-bound thunderstorms in that area of the country, though I suppose it's possible. That led me to think that perhaps it was takeoffs, not arrivals, and was run backwards for effect. But I negated that theory after noting that several of the later inbound flights circle to the north of the storms, something you wouldn't do if you were taking off and flying northbound.

If you have any comments as to its authenticity, let me know.