Southern Arizona Hang Glider Association
i refer to a few weather site before heading out. what sites do you all use and r they tailored to certain site. also is there a way to get a link to all these sites on our website. in Oregon where i learned to fly they had some good links on what to check weather wise. i have refereed back to that and tailored it slightly to Tucson. Anyways look forward to your feedback.
http://www.rvhpa.net/weather.htm
Aaron C
weather sites???
Moderators:ioan, John Wolfe, aaroncromer, jlowery
Re: weather sites???
Hi, Aaron
For winds aloft predictions I like http://aviationweather.gov/adds/, the Winds/Temps tab. Like most other forecasters their accuracy depends on the weather. Their forecasts tend to get flakey and highly volatile when a low pressure system moves through the area.
For soaring condition forecasts I like Dr. Jack. I believe he recently abandoned the paid subscription model and all features are available to all registered users - give it a try. The 3-day ETA model is at http://www.drjack.info/BLIP/ETA/SW/index.html, and the 1-day RUC model is at http://www.drjack.info/BLIP/RUC/SW/index.html.
Finally, for surface winds I kind of like weather underground. They make the wind predictions hard to find in their general weather pages, but for Tucson they are at http://www.wunderground.com/MOS/Display ... ateCode=AZ, for Ft. Huachuca/Sierra Vista they are at http://www.wunderground.com/MOS/Display ... ateCode=AZ and for Phoenix they're at http://www.wunderground.com/MOS/Display ... ateCode=AZ.
John
For winds aloft predictions I like http://aviationweather.gov/adds/, the Winds/Temps tab. Like most other forecasters their accuracy depends on the weather. Their forecasts tend to get flakey and highly volatile when a low pressure system moves through the area.
For soaring condition forecasts I like Dr. Jack. I believe he recently abandoned the paid subscription model and all features are available to all registered users - give it a try. The 3-day ETA model is at http://www.drjack.info/BLIP/ETA/SW/index.html, and the 1-day RUC model is at http://www.drjack.info/BLIP/RUC/SW/index.html.
Finally, for surface winds I kind of like weather underground. They make the wind predictions hard to find in their general weather pages, but for Tucson they are at http://www.wunderground.com/MOS/Display ... ateCode=AZ, for Ft. Huachuca/Sierra Vista they are at http://www.wunderground.com/MOS/Display ... ateCode=AZ and for Phoenix they're at http://www.wunderground.com/MOS/Display ... ateCode=AZ.
John
-
John Wolfe
- Posts:996
- Joined:Fri Aug 12, 2005 6:08 pm
- Location:Oro Valley (NW Tucson)
Have a look at viewtopic.php?t=1811.
This is my half cents worth since the weather is only correct half of the time.
I use Accu Weather to look at the hourly forecast and surface conditions. I look to see what the hottest part of the day is going to be and make a note to use in the sounding later.
http://www.accuweather.com/us/az/tucson ... asp?fday=2
Then for winds aloft I use
Air Sports Net Winds Aloft and FRD.FSL.NOAA
http://www.usairnet.com/cgi-bin/Winds/A ... se=azimuth
I have this one setup by the common location we fly (the link below is for Oro Valley) and then click on “Load Sounding” to make changes. After I put in the date, then I click on Bak40 to update the graphs. After that, I look at the SkewT-Log Plot hour by hour to see what the winds are doing and how the inversion levels are changing with time. This is also where I add the surface temp I got from accu weather. Put the cursor on the correct hourly chart at the LZ altitude and temp. When you click on the chart, it will add a pink line on the chart. Then I look to see what the cloud base will be.
http://www-frd.fsl.noaa.gov/mab/soundin ... urce=Bak40
I also look at Dr. Jack but it seems to always show better than it really is.
I sometimes take a quick look at Isobaric Analysis
http://virga.sfsu.edu/gif/sathts_pac_snd_00.gif
to get an idea of where the highs and lows are located but you can also get that from NOAA's National Weather Service , Prog Charts.
I don’t particularly like Weather Underground because their hourly charts are really 3hour charts and that don’t give so many data points (maybe 3) in the middle of the day when we typically fly.
That’s about all I have, but the main part is, pick a place and go. Because you really don’t know until you get to the hill.
AM
I use Accu Weather to look at the hourly forecast and surface conditions. I look to see what the hottest part of the day is going to be and make a note to use in the sounding later.
http://www.accuweather.com/us/az/tucson ... asp?fday=2
Then for winds aloft I use
Air Sports Net Winds Aloft and FRD.FSL.NOAA
http://www.usairnet.com/cgi-bin/Winds/A ... se=azimuth
I have this one setup by the common location we fly (the link below is for Oro Valley) and then click on “Load Sounding” to make changes. After I put in the date, then I click on Bak40 to update the graphs. After that, I look at the SkewT-Log Plot hour by hour to see what the winds are doing and how the inversion levels are changing with time. This is also where I add the surface temp I got from accu weather. Put the cursor on the correct hourly chart at the LZ altitude and temp. When you click on the chart, it will add a pink line on the chart. Then I look to see what the cloud base will be.
http://www-frd.fsl.noaa.gov/mab/soundin ... urce=Bak40
I also look at Dr. Jack but it seems to always show better than it really is.
I sometimes take a quick look at Isobaric Analysis
http://virga.sfsu.edu/gif/sathts_pac_snd_00.gif
to get an idea of where the highs and lows are located but you can also get that from NOAA's National Weather Service , Prog Charts.
I don’t particularly like Weather Underground because their hourly charts are really 3hour charts and that don’t give so many data points (maybe 3) in the middle of the day when we typically fly.
That’s about all I have, but the main part is, pick a place and go. Because you really don’t know until you get to the hill.
AM