LOTUS 15M Global Forecast
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I'm a paraglider and kiteboarder from the North coast of Oregon. I'm retired so I fly quite a bit. I've found the Windy application to be quite useful. I'm impressed with the wealth of information and options provided.
As you can imagine, wind speed and direction are critical to the sport of paragliding, particularly so for coastal ridge soaring. Typically, straight onshore wind provides the best lift. If the wind direction is more than 45 degrees cross, there's no lift. Depending on the flying site, we need a minimum of 7 mph wind (in which case it really needs to be almost straight onshore), to a max wind speed in the low teens (depending on pilot experience and skill).
In addition to Windy and other resources, I've also been using the LOTUS 15M Global forecasts for Cape Kiwanda and for Seaside for the last few seasons. It surprised me to find out that the LOTUS model appears have been developed in support of surfing forecasts given the accuracy of its wind forecast.
In comparing forecasts vs actuals over time, I've noticed that the LOTUS 15M Global wind forecasts for the locations I've named above are impressively reliable, and appear to be consistently more accurate than the ECMWF, GFS, NAM and ICON forecast models.
Given Windy's impressive existing tool, I'd like to suggest that Windy also investigate the accuracy and incorporation of the LOTUS model in its tool. I think that would make Windy the dream tool for the paragliding community.