As forecast, the weather on the morning of the scheduled flight consisted of an area of heavy precipitation over and to the north and west of Cheyenne, with better conditions to the east, where the flight was headed. As the group was about to board their aircraft, the program director who had taken them to their hotel the previous evening interviewed Dubroff by telephone. When rain began to fall at Cheyenne Regional Airport and the weather seemed to be deteriorating, the director invited her to stay in Cheyenne, but Dubroff's father declined, explaining that they wanted to "beat the storm" that was approaching.