- The day before, I usually look at Weather Underground at http://www.wunderground.com/. It includes a forecast of temps and winds by hour for the next day.
- Local soaring forecast at http://www.wrh.noaa.gov/sgx/data/aviation/soar.htm. I print this and take it to the field to share.
- General pressure patterns at http://www.hpc.ncep.noaa.gov/basicwx/basicwx.shtml. I look at several times to get an idea of the direction that highs and lows are going. I'm sure there's a nice moving map somewhere - if anyone knows a good one, please comment.
- DUATS at http://www.duats.com/ to get terminal forecasts for the two biggest fields closest to my home field.
- Wind forecast using the Old Flight Path Tool at http://adds.aviationweather.gov/java/. I look at about 2000' MSL (as close as I can get to my field altitude) and about 5000' MSL (close to release altitude). I print this. I haven't tried the new tool yet.
- Lately I've started to use the forecast soundings chart at http://www.emc.ncep.noaa.gov/mmb/soundings.nam/snding_off.html to get an idea of possible inversions and the dew point spread. Unfortunately the closest one is for Miramar NAS, so I'm not sure how accurate it is for my home field. I print this.
For non-weather stuff:
- AOPA's Temporary Flight Restrictions and NOTAM page at http://www.aopa.org/whatsnew/notams.html
- DUATS for NOTAMs that might affect the area I expect to fly.
I'm now starting to save the things I print, and make some notes on them at the end of the day. I'm hoping to review them over time and see which products are the best predictors.
No comments:
Post a Comment