While no two thunderstorms are the same, the graphic below explains the basics of what thunderstorm movement looks like. There are times you'll find stationary storms, but with winds aloft, your decision making must adjust accordingly. If you have to fly around thunderstorms, you want to find clear air to visually separate yourself from the storm. Unless you have onboard radar, embedded thunderstorms are difficult, if not impossible to navigate around. And even with onboard radar, navigating through embedded storms can be challenging.

In this example, let's make staying in clear air the first priority.

Generally speaking, you'll find the best chance for clear, smooth air on the upwind side of a thunderstorm. On top of that, you're typically in more sunny conditions on the upwind side. From a passenger's perspective, sunny weather is almost always more enjoyable than cloudy weather, even if the same amount of turbulence is present in both conditions. //

One rule-of-thumb is to avoid the downwind anvil side of a thunderstorm by at least 1 mile for every 1 knot of wind at that flight level.