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    Windy.com introduces soaring forecast

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    • KorinaK
      Korina @sgtmaloney
      last edited by

      @sgtmaloney Happy to hear it!

      Korina

      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
      • M
        markfrench | Premium
        last edited by

        Awsome addition to WINDY - I HOPE IT IS ADDED TO THE FULL VERSION SOON! The Soaring Forcast will be my default when I open Windy on a webpage and my apps.

        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
        • Steph-DS
          Steph-D | Premium
          last edited by

          Hi,
          Great new feature, thanks for this ! 😀
          I am mainly using the Android app.
          Paraglider pilot, occasionnaly XC flying in flatlands.
          Also using Topmeteo and meteoparapente
          I have just browsed quickly all comments, sorry in case of double request:

          • I would be interested in the possibility of having a 2nd display (ex: isolines) with the condensation level, which is the actual maximum height we can reach in VFR
          • I know I can get the info by pointing somewhere, get the sounding forecast and then CCL, but continuously swapping between display is not user-friendly when you compare areas and different routes
          • apart from this I am also interested in a second indicator like shear ratio (buoyancy vs wind) to estimate if the thermals will get washed out or not
            Thanks for your efforts 👍
            Best regards
            Stéphane
          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
          • E
            emccarthy556 | Premium
            last edited by

            Thank you for adding this feature, I love it.
            I am wondering what the difference is between this forecast and the NOAA forecast is. It would be great to make it easy to see what the definition of your number is.
            For example today in Hemet California the NOAA forecast is 11,010 for the max... and in yours it is 14,300 ft.
            Lake Elsinore California is closer with 7800ft vs 8450 ft
            https://www.wrh.noaa.gov/sgx/data/aviation/soar.htm
            Is this a definition issue or a calculation / data difference ?

            possible Improvements and additions:

            • A slight addition would be to add an adjustment for "critical updraft strength" given a selectable sink rate for a glider. For example a glider minimum sink rate of 225fpm.
            • Thermal updraft velocity would be nice as well.
            • Finer resolution where possible

            Here is a site that shows these:
            http://www.soaringpredictor.info/rasptable/RASPtable.html
            Note that the actual height in this site might be under reported. I have some personal experience that this may be the case.

            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
            • J
              joemajcher
              last edited by

              As a glider pilot myself, the thermals layer is a feature that will expand the platform and bring in a new audience of users. The thermals layer is epic. I think what would complete this addition is to find a way to incorporate ridge lift and wave lift layers along with the thermals layer, as well as incorporate past history/historical data of the thermals, etc.

              1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
              • J
                johnpratt | Premium
                last edited by

                Looks good. Can't wait to get some lift here and check it. Thanks

                1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                • D
                  duducardo | Premium
                  last edited by

                  Good idea, there are lots of parameters about gliding weather forecast for example thermal speed,buoyancy ratio and so on it would be fine to show that

                  1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                  • soarnutS
                    soarnut RC Airplane Pilots | Premium
                    last edited by

                    Excellent addition to the menu. Keep up the good work!

                    1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                    • mhaberlerM
                      mhaberler @Filip_K | Premium
                      last edited by

                      with my hobby - hot air ballooning - it's the other way around as for the *glider folk:

                      mornings: we do not wait with flying until the thermals set in, we better land when they do

                      evenings: good to know when the thermals subside - between then and darkness we can go for a flight and sometimes it becomes too short

                      super useful - as is the regional indication of thermal activity

                      thanks @filip_k !

                      Michael

                      1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                      • byfootandbyskyB
                        byfootandbysky | Premium
                        last edited by

                        Thank you for making this extremely useful layer for Windy! My main request would be to use a wider variety of colors for the lift height. It can be important to know the predicted difference of 500 meters in one area compared to another. With the current colors of red and orange it's hard to tell exactly what altitude is being forecasted.

                        idefix37I 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                        • idefix37I
                          idefix37 Sailor Moderator @byfootandbysky
                          last edited by idefix37

                          @byfootandbysky
                          You can change the color of this layer yourself and choose a variety of colors as you like.
                          In website or in the tablet app, go to Settings > Customize the color scale.
                          When the modification is done it is applied to your phone app too:

                          EE5421CD-E6C9-4719-83EB-A73B2CED0C01.jpeg

                          See how to modify colors:
                          https://community.windy.com/topic/10336/customize-the-color-scales-of-windy-layers?_=1626072094846

                          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 2
                          • M
                            matollin | Premium
                            last edited by

                            I'm very happy to see the addition of the Themals-layer. The lightning symbols for thunder storms could in my opinion be visually more prominent (alarming). Information about the spatial extent of thunder storms is critical for flight planning.

                            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                            • ahoekstraA
                              ahoekstra | Premium
                              last edited by ahoekstra

                              Great work. The Thermal layers look very good. I use SkySight mainly. I have described how I use this. I have been so bold to mark suggestions (in the ideal world) for windy in bold too.

                              • Most of the time I login just to see if I want to fly the day after, or if the weather is below average. Checking PFD and thermal strength layers will do that trick. Often I will check the point forecast (meteogram) in Skysight to get a quick feel of the weather for local flights.
                              • When planning cross country I will first get a feel for the main mechanics and pressure systems, cape and work throught available thermal data towards setting a modest task with the best changes of stumbling into good weather. So for making a route, airspace layers, known waypoint layers are a big part of the info I need. I also cross reference the model with the different Windy models and will plough through the written KNMI model guidence.
                              • I really love the option to get a meteogram for the weather and thermal conditions on route. I screenshot this to keep handy during the flight (does reality match the forecast, if not is it better or worse? This helps altering the flight plan during flight - this meteogram is also usefull for determining a good starttime of the flight).
                              • What do I miss in SkySight the most? Some kind of multiple day PFD alert via SMS / APP with easy setup
                              1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                              • Clazz64C
                                Clazz64 | Premium
                                last edited by

                                Great function! Thanks, I’ll test it next weekend;-)

                                1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                                • W
                                  WindyJenny
                                  last edited by

                                  I am so very impressed with the whole application. Fantastic resource, easy to use, great layers, visual layout. Really impressive stuff.

                                  1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 2
                                  • jorgeiJ
                                    jorgei | Premium
                                    last edited by

                                    Nice addition!!

                                    1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
                                    • S
                                      steve66 0
                                      last edited by steve66 0

                                      Hi Sirs,
                                      very interesting feature. Thanks a lot for this great job.
                                      BTW what's the meaning of bottom right strip in m - 0 1k 2k..... 8k ?
                                      Are the values related to the width or to the maximum climb of clouds.
                                      How it is possible to get infos on the ascensional speed?
                                      Thanks in advance
                                      Stefano
                                      Italy

                                      KorinaK 1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                                      • KorinaK
                                        Korina @steve66 0
                                        last edited by

                                        @steve66-0 Hello, the bar shows the occurrence of cumuli and altitude of thermals.

                                        Korina

                                        1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                                        • A
                                          ajbeevers | Premium
                                          last edited by

                                          Hi,

                                          Great addition to a fantastic tool. Your commitment to soaring inspired me to sign up to Premium.

                                          In theory "cloud base", "cloud tops", "height of thermals" and the map of blue/Cu/OD areas already cover the essentials perfectly.

                                          But the problem is the accuracy. Sometimes the "height of thermals" is below the "cloud base", sometimes it is higher than the "cloud tops"! And then the soundings often appear to be different again.

                                          It would be useful to have more info on what "height of thermals" is supposed to signify. Is it the tops of thermals (TI=0 / PBL height etc), top of useable lift (HCrit etc), or some kind of custom parameter similar to a "star rating" / "PFD"?

                                          I've tried most of the soaring forecasts and still use some. For the UK, the specialist forecasts are often no more accurate than looking carefully at the general weather forecasts and observations and doing a simple estimation of cloudbase from the temp/dew point spread.

                                          So my hope would be improved accuracy of what already exists, rather than more and more different ways to view inaccurate data.

                                          1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 1
                                          • bhungerfordB
                                            bhungerford
                                            last edited by

                                            Will the full version of this layer show trigger temps

                                            1 Reply Last reply Reply Quote 0
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