SoaringPredictor

NEWS:

January 24, 2008: This site is running the code developed by Tad Hurst.

Why not submit your favorite site? I need site name, lat, long, LZ and launch altitudes and the zipcode.

- Alan

Sounding
Station:	KTUS (alt)
Date/Time:	4 DEC 2020
Temp/Wind data from:	NOAA Digital Forecast

error getting data for coordinate: 31.7036,-110.4928 error getting data for coordinate: 33.2667,-110.82

Fri

Sat

Sun

Mon

Tue

Wed

Site
Name

Wind

Above
Launch

Wind

Above
Launch

Wind

Above
Launch

Wind

Above
Launch

Wind

Above
Launch

Wind

Above
Launch

South Mountain

E 6

2076

E 6

4494

E 5

5779

E 10

6673

E 13

6673

E 6

6062

Oatman Mt

NE 8

2933

NE 7

4965

NE 7

6670

NE 10

7474

E 16

7656

E 9

6951

Shaw Butte

SW 3

2820

E 3

5127

E 2

6287

E 9

7151

E 12

7332

NE 6

6786

The Y

N 13

4742

NE 9

6391

NE 8

6570

E 15

6659

E 16

6923

NE 10

6659

Phoenix Regional

N 5

3117

E 5

5222

N 5

6840

E 9

7807

E 12

7990

E 7

7399

Humbolt

N 8

4109

N 7

4491

N 5

5135

E 10

6172

E 10

6261

E 6

5135

Miller Canyon

NE 16

1778

SE 13

3353

NE 14

4418

E 13

5797

E 13

6914

E 10

6914

Box Canyon

E 18

3708

SE 15

5178

E 14

5663

E 16

8066

E 15

8066

SE 12

8066

Whetstone Mountain

E 21

3417

E 15

4160

E 15

5708

E 17

5800

E 15

5800

SE 12

5800

Mt Lemmon

E 16

1824

E 14

2420

E 13

4433

E 15

5551

E 16

6592

E 14

6128

A Mountain

E 9

5838

SE 6

6654

E 6

8108

E 12

8494

E 12

8669

SE 7

8494

Rainbow Valley

E 7

3974

E 7

6784

E 5

7345

E 12

8013

E 14

8195

E 7

7622

Harquahala

W 5

2479

SE 5

3284

E 3

3665

E 15

4074

E 18

4404

E 9

3855

El Tiro Gliderport

N 6

4678

S 6

6715

N 6

7455

E 8

8587

SE 9

8587

SE 7

7994

Mt Ord

NE 10

3823

E 8

4248

NE 6

4432

E 12

4524

E 13

4769

E 7

4432

DISCLAIMER: These estimates are intended to assist in daily site selection only. No warranty is made concerning the accuracy of these estimates. These estimates cannot be used to determine if conditions are safe for flying. Conditions should be evaluated at the launch site by experienced pilots before launching.

Sounding: This is the site at which the weather balloon was released. If the flying site predicted is far from the sounding site, the estimate is not valid. Also, the sounding is done at 12Z (4AM PST). If a front comes through, the sounding is no longer valid. The sounding becomes less valid later in the day.

Thermal Ceiling: the lower of the height at which the thermal stops rising and the cloud level. We can't fly into the clouds, so it doesn't matter how much higher the thermal goes. Remember that we can't get to the top of the thermal because of our sink rate. Our upper limit will be lower than the reported ceiling.

Soaring Ceiling: We will stop going up when the thermal is rising just fast enough to offset our sink. It is estimated that this happens when the temperature difference between the thermal and the surrounding air is about 2 degrees F. This number is an estimate of the maximum altitude we might reach if we start at launch height, and should be more reflective of our chances of soaring than the thermal top. Please let me know how this compares with actually flying, and I will adjust it as necessary.

Above Launch: The difference between how high we might get and how high we start. This estimate does not account for ridge lift.

High Temp: This estimate is taken from the National Weather Service website. Puddle temperatures can exceed this temperature.

Puddle Temp: This estimate is based on the High Temp and the National Weather Service estimate of cloudiness, and the angle of the sun. When the sun is directly overhead on a sunny day, the puddle temp is esimated to be 25 degrees warmer than the high ambient temperature. This estimate now includes a rigorous calculation of the Sun Angle, and accounts for the seasonal differences in zenith and daylight hours.

Wind: This estimate is taken from the National Weather Service website.

Thermal Type: Blue (no cloud formation) or White (Cloud formation)

Thermal Index: This is the maximum difference in temperature between the rising packet of air (the thermal) and the surrounding air. The difference in temperature is responsible for the buoyancy of the thermal, and larger temperature differences mean faster rising thermals. A value of about 10 F or greater often means that the conditions are soarable. Values above 20 could indicate rowdy thermals.

Validity of estimate: Many factors (including strong wind, fronts, cloud shadows, incorrectly predicted temperatures, etc) can affect the validity of the estimates.

Author: Tad Hurst

Supported By: Alan Crouse ac_soaring@yahoo.com