Weather assessments

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Hi. I'm a novice skydiver part of the way through my AFF course. I live in England and the weather is fairly mixed - as a result I haven't jumped for a few months now and I really need to get back there and finish off. I should probably have started my course in spring so that I wouldn't have winter weather in the middle of it.

I can phone or email my DZ and they'll give me a general opinion, but obviously they can't ever tell me for sure that I'll get to jump that day. When they say something like "we'll see" or "no promises" or "there's a chance" - I usually interpret it as "probably not... but come down anyway just in case."

Which is fair enough - but it's actually quite a long and expensive journey for me to the DZ and, nice as all the staff and members are, I can think of better ways to spend my weekend than sitting in a hangar listening to the rain

Am I being too much of a weather perfectionist? I'm not entirely clear what conditions stop jumping (apart from high winds) - like how much cloud at what height, and so on. Does rain always mean no jumping? Are wet canopies a big problem for repacking and storage? Can you jump when it's overcast if the clouds are high enough?

Do you think it's ok to wait for a weather forecast that actually says sun that day instead of overcast and 60% chance of rain?

How do you guys, especially in England, judge the weather and decide whether to make the trip to the DZ? Or do you just go anyway and hope?

Which are your favoured weather forecast services?

A lot of questions - thanks for any tips!

[moggybean 0]

There's lots more to do on a DZ on bad weather days. You could take your packing cert, learn more about the kit and how it works, practice EPs etc etc......... Your instructors may have more time on their hands than normal so get in with them and keep learning. It's about more than just the skydive.

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There's lots more to do on a DZ on bad weather days. You could take your packing cert, learn more about the kit and how it works, practice EPs etc etc......... Your instructors may have more time on their hands than normal so get in with them and keep learning. It's about more than just the skydive.

hmm, I hadn't thought about that sort of thing. I do want to learn to pack and basically anything else I can find out about how it all works would be great.

I'd feel like I was pissing them off a bit, though, or overstepping the mark - I've paid for an AFF course and might feel a bit weird trying to sneak extra training and info from them when they'll probably have better things to do (like sit and listen to the rain )

[JackC1 0]

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I'd feel like I was pissing them off a bit, though, or overstepping the mark - I've paid for an AFF course and might feel a bit weird trying to sneak extra training and info from them when they'll probably have better things to do (like sit and listen to the rain )

That training is usually thrown in for free. They know you need it, they will provide it and all you have to do is ask for it.

How do I judge the weather? Well, I look out the window and if it isn't blowing a gale or pissing down with rain I go to the DZ. You can be technical and use the Met Office web site for a forecast or ring the DZ but there isn't really much more you can do than that.

[Remster 24]

One thing is for sure: if you don't go to the dz, you won't jump.

Remster

[PiLFy 0]

Why not take a week's vacation, & finish your license here: http://www.skydiveempuriabrava.com/index-2.html

I feel for you on the weather thing. Just remember, sitting on the ground beats getting slammed into it by funky winds, any day. Find out the best aviation weather sites for your area, & use them. Good Luck.

[shropshire 0]

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There's lots more to do on a DZ on bad weather days. You could take your packing cert, learn more about the kit and how it works, practice EPs etc etc......... Your instructors may have more time on their hands than normal so get in with them and keep learning. It's about more than just the skydive.

hmm, I hadn't thought about that sort of thing. I do want to learn to pack and basically anything else I can find out about how it all works would be great.

I'd feel like I was pissing them off a bit, though, or overstepping the mark - I've paid for an AFF course and might feel a bit weird trying to sneak extra training and info from them when they'll probably have better things to do (like sit and listen to the rain )

You're not likely to piss off anyone by asking (not the good ones anyway). Most folk are more than happy to chat, help and demonstrate stuff...... It's good to talk mate.


Spring is coming and things can only get better :-)

(.)Y(.)
Chivalry is not dead; it only sleeps for want of work to do. - Jerome K Jerome

[RMK 3]

For weather forecasts to be of any use for air sports (flying, skydiving, etc) you should look at the aviation weather sites, which rather than being aimed at the general public with “do I need a jacket/umbrella to go to work” information will give you cloud base levels, winds aloft and trends. For the UK look at http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/aviation

If you have an iPhone, try AeroWeather http://www.aeroweather.ch/ which is great.

"Pain is the best instructor, but no one wants to attend his classes"

[jakee 1,256]

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Am I being too much of a weather perfectionist?

Depends. Do you want to jump more? Then yes you are. There have been loads of jumping days so far this year. The South East is suffering from a drought! You won't get much better than that in winter/spring.

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I'm not entirely clear what conditions stop jumping (apart from high winds) - like how much cloud at what height, and so on.

Ref cloud - when you look out of the door of the aircraft, you need to be able to see the ground between where you exit and where you will land. So broken cloud can be ok (or not), and obviously if it's above where you'll be jumping from it doesn't matter.

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Do you think it's ok to wait for a weather forecast that actually says sun that day instead of overcast and 60% chance of rain?

Sure it's ok. You'll miss out on a huge amount of jumping but it's your decision to make.

Do you want to have an ideagasm?

[jakee 1,256]

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hmm, I hadn't thought about that sort of thing. I do want to learn to pack and basically anything else I can find out about how it all works would be great.

I'd feel like I was pissing them off a bit, though, or overstepping the mark - I've paid for an AFF course and might feel a bit weird trying to sneak extra training and info from them when they'll probably have better things to do (like sit and listen to the rain)

Instructors like pro-active students. Most of them care about the future of the sport, and the more you demonstrate willingness to learn the more they'll think you're one of the few who will continue jumping for any length of time - and that's definitely a good thing.

Do you want to have an ideagasm?

[rifleman 61]

Hi,

I'm a UK novice as well (3 jumps into the RAPS course) and I know that the weather can be a PITA (last 2 jump days were either rained off or the wings on the AC were freezing up above 2500ft).

However, turning up at the DZ on days where the weather is slightly iffy can pay dividends. There's been a couple of occasions where people have taken themselves off the manifest because of a long weather hold and gone home only for the weather to break. This means that those people that stay may get more jumps in.

I generally use http://www.metcheck.com/V40/UK/HOBBIES/aviation.asp for weather forecasts as they're reasonably accurate and on the hobbies page under aviation there's a listing for all the UK dropzones. The aviation forecasts are available about 2 -3 days in advance unless you want to pay for the service.

I'm waiting on a place coming free on a packing course because it's always good to have something to do during wet weather, either supervised repacks or learning about new canopies and containers to add to your packing certificate.

hope this helps

Richard

Atheism is a Non-Prophet Organisation

[demoknite 0]

I used to live in England and did all of my training and progression there. I jumped at one place 40 or so minutes from my house and the weather was the same. I jumped at another place and though it was only 60 or so minutes away the weather was unpredictable as it related to my house.
The met office dot co dot uk is accurate for the airfield nearest your DZ. If you wake up and the tops of trees are blowing in the wind, probably too windy.
Depending on your life and family situation, sometimes its good to spend the weather weekends at home with your friends and family so when you do get several weekends on the trot of good weather there isnt a shock. Personally, I would rather skip or get our of work early on a Friday or Monday to learn to pack or whatever instead of doing that on the weekend when the staff is probably too busy prepping tandems or drinking tea. What is your home DZ and your driving distance from them?

[rss_v 0]

Thanks for the replies, everyone. I'll try to head down there even if it's not certain that I'd jump, and perhaps I can pick up some useful info or at least just absorb some skydiving sense from the place. I'm losing touch with it all.

[JohnMitchell 14]

I get very bored on bad weather days at the DZ. I'm very glad to work with students and novices, for free, when I'm just hanging around. Get a license card out and start banging out some of the items on it.

[rifleman 61]

I live about 2 1/2 hours from Tilstock where I jump so the weather can be radically different between home and the DZ.

As there's only the wife and I (no kids) she comes to the DZ with me and we normally book a hotel local to the DZ for the night as this means that I can hang around the DZ until the last lift of the day. We normally set off between 6am and 8am on the day of the jump and then spend the day there and come home the day after.

Atheism is a Non-Prophet Organisation

[voilsb 1]

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I get very bored on bad weather days at the DZ. I'm very glad to work with students and novices, for free, when I'm just hanging around. Get a license card out and start banging out some of the items on it.

Or just hang out with the rigger and see if he'll let you watch some patches, relines, repacks, etc to learn more about the gear which saves your life!

Brian

[cavscout73 0]

[url]

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Hi. I'm a novice skydiver part of the way through my AFF course. I live in England and the weather is fairly mixed - as a result I haven't jumped for a few months now and I really need to get back there and finish off. I should probably have started my course in spring so that I wouldn't have winter weather in the middle of it.

I can phone or email my DZ and they'll give me a general opinion, but obviously they can't ever tell me for sure that I'll get to jump that day. When they say something like "we'll see" or "no promises" or "there's a chance" - I usually interpret it as "probably not... but come down anyway just in case."


Which is fair enough - but it's actually quite a long and expensive journey for me to the DZ and, nice as all the staff and members are, I can think of better ways to spend my weekend than sitting in a hangar listening to the rain

Am I being too much of a weather perfectionist? I'm not entirely clear what conditions stop jumping (apart from high winds) - like how much cloud at what height, and so on. Does rain always mean no jumping? Are wet canopies a big problem for repacking and storage? Can you jump when it's overcast if the clouds are high enough?

Do you think it's ok to wait for a weather forecast that actually says sun that day instead of overcast and 60% chance of rain?

How do you guys, especially in England, judge the weather and decide whether to make the trip to the DZ? Or do you just go anyway and hope?

Which are your favoured weather forecast services?

A lot of questions - thanks for any tips!

Go to the dz learn all you can get to know the other jumpers, I started aff in september 2010 didnt get my licence til early the next summer but i think all the ground time made all the difference . other posts were very right , skydiving goes so far beyond the jump. It took a lot of weather days to learn a ton and build a lot of friendships that i can never replace....

[richardw38 0]

ditto above.

I only got my B rating because there was bad weather. us A license guys and girls were bored, the instructors were bored, so when they asked us if we wanted to do some theory while we waited, we all jumed at the chance.

[demoknite 0]

I still cant believe the DZs dont put up on facebook if they are jumping at the time or not. Maybe some do, but the ones where Ive jumped only do after the fact.

[wildfan75 1]

Two things we always say at my dz...

You can't jump if you're not here.

If you only show up on good weather days, you'll never get all the ground stuff completed on the A license card.