Upper level winds

[RB_Hammer 0]

Where is a good source on the web to get an upper level wind report? I have seen the board at the DZ where they show the wind direction and speed and I would like to be able to get this information when I can't get to the DZ. I want to start to figure out where I would spot.

Thanks

"I'm not lost. I don't know where I'm going, but there's no sense in being late."
Mathew Quigley

[AggieDave 6]

Go here:

http://aviationweather.gov/products/nws/fdwinds/

--"When I die, may I be surrounded by scattered chrome and burning gasoline."

[sid 1]

If you set up a dropzone site at www.skydivingweather.com you can set it to show you the winds aloft....... there's a pilot site too but Dayumn they're hard to decipher

Pete Draper,

Just because my life plan is written on the back of a Hooter's Napkin, it's still a life plan.... right?

[RB_Hammer 0]

Cool. Just what I was looking for. After checking there, I have a question. This is what I saw:
Time period 2:00 P.M. - 11:00 P.M. (MST)
Altitude Direction Wind Speed (mph) Temperature
3000 360 35
6000 010 28 26.6°F
9000 350 17 12.2°F
12000 330 52 6.8°F
18000 820 7 -0.4°F

What direction is 820?

"I'm not lost. I don't know where I'm going, but there's no sense in being late."
Mathew Quigley

[NWFlyer 2]

Quote

Cool. Just what I was looking for. After checking there, I have a question. This is what I saw:
Time period 2:00 P.M. - 11:00 P.M. (MST)
Altitude Direction Wind Speed (mph) Temperature
3000 360 35
6000 010 28 26.6°F
9000 350 17 12.2°F
12000 330 52 6.8°F
18000 820 7 -0.4°F

What direction is 820?

Major swirling vortex?

Actually I'm curious to know the answer myself - if that is a real valid value or if it's just a typo.

"There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

[AggieDave 6]

Sid,

Come on, I'm not a pilot, I'm an Aggie and I can decipher the pilot's data. If I can do it, ANYone can do it easily.

Example for those of you at home to follow along with (for anyone that followed my link and went "what?".

T 3000 6000 9000 12000
M 1822 2020+10 1916+04 2423+03

@ 3,000ft the winds are 180 doing 22knts
@ 6,000 the winds are 200 doing 20knts and its +10C at that altitude
@ 9,000 the winds are 190 doing 16 knots and its +04C at that altitude
@ 12,000 the winds are 240 doing 23knts and its +03C at that altitude

--"When I die, may I be surrounded by scattered chrome and burning gasoline."

[AggieDave 6]

Quote

Actually I'm curious to know the answer myself - if that is a real valid value or if it's just a typo.

Checking the values from the aviation site I posted, that value is not listed for his region of the country. So I'm going to say that is most likely a typo from the script that Skydivingweather.com uses to translate the data. Its not the first time I've seen problems like that with the data presented on that website.

--"When I die, may I be surrounded by scattered chrome and burning gasoline."

[davedlg 0]

Quote

What direction is 820?

From the Help Page:

Quote

Wind direction is coded as a number between 51 and 86 (vice 01 to 36) when the wind speed is 100 knots or greater. To derive the actual wind direction, subtract 50 from the first pair of numbers. To derive wind speed, add 100 to the second pair of numbers. For example, a forecast at 39,000 feet of "731960" shows a wind direction from 230 degrees (73-50=23) with a wind speed of 119 knots (100+19=119). Above 24,000 feet the temperature is assumed to be negative, therefore the third pair of numbers indicate a temperature of minus 60 degrees Celsius.

so the code 820704 means 320 at 107 knots and -4 degrees

[NWFlyer 2]

Quote

Quote

Actually I'm curious to know the answer myself - if that is a real valid value or if it's just a typo.

Checking the values from the aviation site I posted, that value is not listed for his region of the country. So I'm going to say that is most likely a typo from the script that Skydivingweather.com uses to translate the data. Its not the first time I've seen problems like that with the data presented on that website.

I kind of liked the idea of the swirling vortex. But it would make determining exit separation a bitch.

"There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

[davedlg 0]

Quote

Checking the values from the aviation site I posted, that value is not listed for his region of the country. So I'm going to say that is most likely a typo from the script that Skydivingweather.com uses to translate the data. Its not the first time I've seen problems like that with the data presented on that website.

I'm guessing it is an error in the script which translates the raw format I quoted above. It should be written to subtract 50 from any number that high and add 100 to the wind speed.

[AggieDave 6]

Quote

I'm guessing it is an error in the script which translates the raw format I quoted above. It should be written to subtract 50 from any number that high and add 100 to the wind speed.

Yeah. That makes sense to me now, I'm used to seeing "7799" and similar, not the broken down version with similar values.

--"When I die, may I be surrounded by scattered chrome and burning gasoline."

[darkwing 4]

Just remember, the first load is when you pretty much believe the numbers, after that, you believe what you actually experience.

-- Jeff
My Skydiving History

[xlh883 0]

What's so hard to understand about this current condition report:

KCMH 300151Z 16010KT 10SM SCT090 OVC150 18/12 A3011 RMK AO2 SLP195 T01780122

And the forecast:

KCMH 292337Z 300024 16008KT P6SM SCT040 BKN120
FM0700 17010KT P6SM SCT035 OVC070
FM1400 18012G22KT P6SM VCSH SCT025 OVC060
TEMPO 1922 5SM -SHRA BR OVC025
FM2200 19014G24KT 5SM -SHRA BR OVC020


????



I know it is confusing. I am a pilot and I sometimes have a problem with it. I use a website that gives you the english conversion if you want it. Nice to have in a pinch. I try to decipher it first though. Need the practice.

[RB_Hammer 0]

So, what's the website?

"I'm not lost. I don't know where I'm going, but there's no sense in being late."
Mathew Quigley

[Eule 0]

Quote

Just remember, the first load is when you pretty much believe the numbers, after that, you believe what you actually experience.

Wake up at DZ after staying up too late the previous night, hear winds howling, elect not to get ready for an early load, stay in bed. Hear first load depart. Several minutes later, hear manifest on the PA announcing 1) wind hold and 2) request for volunteers with cars to go pick up Otter 1, all of whom landed off.

Then one day I actually believed the winds aloft forecast myself, went on an early (the first? Can't remember) load, and got out at the end of the runway, expecting to land about a half mile north and a quarter mile west. I actually landed off, about two miles north and a half mile west.

Note that the "winds aloft" at 3k, 6k, 9k, and 12k are a FORECAST, not actual reports. If you are in the central US, you can get radar observations of the winds aloft at http://www.profiler.noaa.gov/npn/profiler.jsp?options=full . Many of the defaults are wrong for jumping - _make sure_ you change the speed from meters per second to knots. 10 m/s is almost 20 knots, so this one is important. Other useful settings are time left to right, temperature in F, max height 15000 feet, and height above ground level. http://www.profiler.noaa.gov/npn/interpretData.jsp is a sample plot with comments.

http://adds.aviationweather.gov/metars/ will translate the METARs and TAFs for you if you click the "Translated' button. A METAR is a current report that includes interesting things like the winds and the cloud heights. A TAF is a forecast. You can get METARs for a lot more airports than you can get TAFs for.

To use either of the above, you have to get used to 24-hour Greenwich/Zulu/UTC time. You can look up the exact offset for your location, but a decent approximation for the continental US is that Greenwich is six hours ahead.

Eule

PLF does not stand for Please Land on Face.

[xlh883 0]

The FAA website is duats.com which you have to be a pilot with a medical or pilot certificate to use. Here is a public one:

http://www.efalk.org/metar.html



David

[velvetjo 0]

On windy days you can sometimes get PIREP's (pilot reports) from aircraft with actual winds aloft. A good site to do so is ADDS, which Eule already pointed out as well. Click the PIREPs tab - the interactive Java tool gives you a nice little map which you can zoom to your location. PIREP codes can be found here. If your jump pilot doesn't give PIREPs regularly when the weather is quirky, they should. Smack 'em around until they do - it helps everyone who flies, and not doing it is just lazy.

Don't forget a really simple but powerful tool available in most aircraft today for determining winds - the GPS. As the plane circles, the largest delta between higher airspeed and lower groundspeed means you're pointing directly into the wind at the current altitude, and coincidentally it's also the windspeed. Ask the pilot to repeat this simple exercise a couple of times on your way up, and you should have a pretty good idea of what will happen after you leave the aircraft.

If you really want to get nutty and go old school, ask the pilot if you can drop a wind drift indicator. Just remember, they don't call the first load "wind dummies" for nothing.

Lance

[RB_Hammer 0]

Pretty cool. Lot's of information there. At this stage I am still a student and figure there is nothing I should not be learning about. Thanks for the help.

"I'm not lost. I don't know where I'm going, but there's no sense in being late."
Mathew Quigley