Windy City PPG - Powered Paragliding
The Problem with Weather Forecasting
Weather stations used for forecasting are almost never located exactly where you intend to fly. As such, they do not necessarily reflect the true weather conditions at your flying field. In addition, the information is a forecasted "average" and may not reflect the conditions when you intend to fly.
To insure the best forecasted conditions, I recommend the following steps:
Avoid Small Pockets of Good Conditions - Look at a Larger Area Weather Profile
Do your best to avoid small pockets of good weather by looking at a wider forecasted area. Looking at a larger area gives you a much more informed Weather & Wind picture.
Don't fall into the habit of checking only one area forecast, only to get to your flying field to find that conditions have deteriorated are potentially unsafe for flying.
Consider Winds Aloft and Gusts
While Wind & Weather may be ideal at ground level, the winds aloft may prove to be stronger and less comfortable. Also consider wind gusts. I like to use the Blue Windy.APP for winds aloft and wind gusts, but there are several apps you can use for this information.
Weather & Wind Forecasting
In this example, I intend to fly in Sycamore Illinois, but to confirm the larger area weather profile I will confirm conditions in surrounding areas, including (1) DeKalb, (2) Aurora, and (3) Rockford as pictured below.
Surrounding Area Weather & Winds
As you see in these three different area weather profiles, wind and weather conditions appear to be favorable, if only for a short time, but the fact that the winds were stronger (12-14MPH) just a few hours earlier, wind gusts are 15 MPH, 12 MPH, and 14 MPH respectively at the intended time of flight (7PM) and the winds aloft are much stronger than ground level (17 MPH, 15 MPH, and 18.9 MPH).
In this example, I would stay home and wait for calmer and more stable wind and weather. Not saying it is unflyable, but it just wouldn't be a comfortable flight, and there is a chance that the forecast is not accurate and the conditions at my intended time of flight could change.
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