Winds Aloft

[Brother Dave]

I have read many times that we need to pay attention to the winds, which makes all the sense in the world for anyone transporting anything, including themselves through the air.
I have wanted to know exactly how dramatic the wind change is above me, and have been unfortunate enough to lose a couple of non-GPS drones due, as I now believe, to winds.
I recently downloaded an app that shows winds as well as many other measurements anywhere in the world. It gives a visual representation as well. In the
App Store, I searched for “earth nullschool”, and its the first app to come up. On the web the address is earth.nullschool.net.
Here’s what I’m talking about:

I wrote the altitude in the screenshots.
I hope this helps someone to realize that winds can be extremely different at different altitudes.

 

[RunningWithScissors]

I have wanted to know exactly how dramatic the wind change is above me, and have been unfortunate enough to lose a couple of non-GPS drones due, as I now believe, to winds.

Brother Dave,

You may/may not be aware that you can get real-time wind speeds from UAV Forecast for wherever and whatever altitude you plan to fly in. Like the tag line said, "Priceless". I never leave home(point) without it.

 

[Brother Dave]

Brother Dave,

You may/may not be aware that you can get real-time wind speeds from UAV Forecast for wherever and whatever altitude you plan to fly in. Like the tag line said, "Priceless". I never leave home(point) without it.

Ok, I’ll take a look at that one, and thanks!
Whoever said running with scissors wasn’t smart was wrong! No offense. [emoji4]

 

[Brother Dave]

Brother Dave,

You may/may not be aware that you can get real-time wind speeds from UAV Forecast for wherever and whatever altitude you plan to fly in. Like the tag line said, "Priceless". I never leave home(point) without it.

By the way, I compared UAV forecast with EarthWeather and they are not even close to agreement on the wind speed aloft.
After thinking about it and knowing from what you said, that most droners use UAVforecast, I plan to start using it.
Thanks for the help.
it doesn’t hurt that right now, UAV Forecast says it’s ok to fly

 

[RunningWithScissors]

Whoever said running with scissors wasn’t smart was wrong! No offense.

None taken. That app really is priceless because you can program a number of different factors into it to suit your flying preferences/level of comfort. For after-the-fact wind data, Airdata recently added enhanced windmap (windspeed) data that is invaluable for post flight analysis. That's another app that (IMHO) is invaluable for ops. I keep that loaded on my device all the time.

 

[RunningWithScissors]

By the way, I compared UAV forecast with EarthWeather and they are not even close to agreement on the wind speed aloft.

That's good to know. Thanks for that feedback. I really can't explain that much of a discrepancy. My take on it is, UAV Forecast may not report the same data as another source but, at the very least, it gives me a much better idea of potentially what's happening at 400' than if I just wet my finger and stick it in the air, or watch cloud movement. Add to that, UAV Forecast reports current status on 12 different factors that may impact your decision/ ability to fly or not. All of that data in one app, in real-time. Powerful. Like I said, I don't fly without checking UAV Forecast first. Good luck and happy flying.

 

[Brother Dave]

That's good to know. Thanks for that feedback. I really can't explain that much of a discrepancy. My take on it is, UAV Forecast may not report the same data as another source but, at the very least, it gives me a much better idea of potentially what's happening at 400' than if I just wet my finger and stick it in the air, or watch cloud movement. Add to that, UAV Forecast reports current status on 12 different factors that may impact your decision/ ability to fly or not. All of that data in one app, in real-time. Powerful. Like I said, I don't fly without checking UAV Forecast first. Good luck and happy flying.

Yeah, sand another thing I noticed right off the bat was at the top, front and center. It answered the question that caused me to open the app: “Good to Fly”!
So, if I’m in a hurry, I can just make sure it has my location, look at the top and go flying! or not, lol.

 

[Meta4]

That's good to know. Thanks for that feedback. I really can't explain that much of a discrepancy. My take on it is, UAV Forecast may not report the same data as another source but, at the very least, it gives me a much better idea of potentially what's happening at 400' than if I just wet my finger and stick it in the air, or watch cloud movement. Add to that, UAV Forecast reports current status on 12 different factors that may impact your decision/ ability to fly or not. All of that data in one app, in real-time. Powerful. Like I said, I don't fly without checking UAV Forecast first. Good luck and happy flying.

A lot of people have an amazing faith on forecasts if they see them on a screen.
Any forecast is only of limited value and could be completely wrong.
An app might give a general indication of possible conditions that's helpful for planning but shouldn't be trusted completely.
It's forecast is based on a relatively small number of sites and doesn't show you actual winds at your location.

It's safe to assume the wind up high is going to be stronger than on the ground and in the same direction.
You can tell all you need to know from the way the wind affects your Phantom.

 

[WV. Rootman]

I live on a mountain top. Those wind app. aren't that helpful to me. Micro weather. It doesn't take much elevation above me for the wind to get real strong. Always my biggest concern.