Windy.com introduces soaring forecast
-
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.
-
Will the full version of this layer show trigger temps
-
@jakubvrana I have noticed same thing here in middle parts of Finland. Over optimistic not that much.
-
Great app and great expansion! I live and fly in the middle parts of Finland (Oulu - Ylivieska - Rautavaara - Pudasjärvi - region) and I have noticed that here windy gets the wind rigth most of the time and also the high clouds. With the Cumulus its not that accurate. With thermal height it is quite optimistic. Many times eventually day gets as high as windy promises but many times windy forecasts +2000m amsl already for morning / noon but in reality thermals might start to work in the afternoon. It feels that windy forecasts every sunny day +2000m heights for the thermals.
I have been comparing different models (ECMWF to ICON-EU) for the wind and different levels of clouds but so far I can only say there is some variation (of course).
-
@Filip_K Looks pretty well. How about daily trends, i.e. every hour or 2 hours?
-
@maciekryd Hi, the model updates are every 6 - 7 hours.
-
@maciekryd
And forecast shows steps of 3 hours for standard users and 1 hour for Premium users.
Use your R&L arrow keys of your keyboard to see that clearly. -
@idefix37 Thanks! It works fine this way!
-
Soaring forecast, distance and planning addition. VFR or maybe new additional view with clouds (grey) and thermal strength (yelow and green on picture) . This could be really usefull :-)
-
Dear Friends
I've been a Glider pilot since the '90s.,Also sailing. I'm a Premium subscriber. I was very happy with more of this tool in Windy. I Live in Lami where I can go sailing and also have the ARGS in Belem Novo, from where to take off for the flight to sail My city is Porto Alegre i Rio Grande do Sul. Brasil. -
Awesome addition to WINDY. I have used it for glider flights. So easy to access helpful information. The forecasts have been spot on.
-
This is an excellent addition to an otherwise superb weather site. Keep up the wonderful work!
Greig Glover
-
Great idea!
-
Useful for a "broadly indicative" view over an area.
-
Nice feature, thank you. Very useful information even for pilots planning cross-country flights due to prediction of turbulence. Thank you
-
thanks for this new layer.. I hope It will be a great help to our planning
-
Hi
I clicked on the thermal icon but nothing changes on the screen , cant see and thermals? I am a premium user -
@shashighedia
Where are you located? During the night there are no thermals. -
Excellent job, Filip!
-
excelente capa un 10
