[Willie Green]

To be ignorant of them means the pilot never checked nor did he receive an official weather briefing via a Flight Service Station which would have contained them."

Are pilots required to check such things before they take off?
I'm not being argumentitive, I honestly don't know.
The plane I saw on TV was just a piddly little thing, the kind I assumed could just take off or land on any grass strip as long as the pilot had a license. No need to check with anybody as long as the pilot stayed in the mapped space where such joyrides are allowed.

[FairOpinion]

Naturally the pilots are supposed to check for any warnings.

And this "piddly little thing" could have sprayed smallpox or anthrax all over the stadium.