Weekend Weather

[RobinHastings]

FRIDAY, APRIL 27 through SUNDAY, APRIL 29:
Yes, you can fly this weekend. Conditions won't be perfect, but it should work. Our weekend will be warm (highs above 80 F). It may hold some rain, too, late Saturday night and early Sunday morning. Friday might be cloudy, but we'll see some sun the rest of the weekend. Winds will be mostly easterly on Friday (except light SW in Alamogordo) and light, 10 mph or less. On Saturday the winds get slightly stronger, starting out east/southeast and then swinging around to the south by about 2:00 pm, and south-southwest by evening. High winds at around 12 mph. Saturday night to Sunday morning is when we're likely to get rain, if we get it at all. Finally, Sunday shows fairly strong winds in the forecast, but not bad early on, all out of the southwest. High speeds just under 20 mph. My recommendations are to fly Dry on Friday and Saturday, and Sunday, too, if you can get there early enough. La Luz will work as well. Towing at Exit 116 will work on Friday. On late Saturday afternoon Magdalena Rim might be good. On Sunday Nelson's Launch in El Paso might work, but be there early. Towing at the Sod Farms is probably feasible all weekend long. Don't forget our Quarterly RGSA meeting at 7:00 pm, Golden Corral Restaurant in Las Cruces. Fly safe!
-Robin
575-541-5744

[RobinHastings]

FRIDAY, MAY 4 through SUNDAY, MAY 6:
This will be a relief from some of the winds we've been enduring lately. Warm temperatures, dry, and winds mostly light easterly. Alamogordo, though, should see light west and southwest winds. It looks like Friday will be east in Deming, southeast in Las Cruces, and east in El Paso. Light west winds in Alamogordo. On Saturday Las Cruces and Deming should see light SE winds (10 mph), east in El Paso, about 5 to 10 mph, and southwest about 10 in Alamogordo. On Sunday, more of the same, but a little more southerly. My recommendations are to fly Dry Canyon or La Luz on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, and possibly Anapra or Torrey Paso on Saturday with a PG. There could be towing on the Exit 116 road site on Saturday, west of Las Cruces, and of course the Sod Farms should be good for training all weekend long. Good luck! I will be planning to fly at Dry Canyon on Saturday, May 5, probably meeting up in the LZ about 11:00 am. Give me a call to finalize plans, if you want to join me there - a San Diego H5 pilot named David is coming through and wants to fly. Be safe, and enjoy the balmy conditions while they last.
-Robin
575-541-5744

[RobinHastings]

FRIDAY, MAY 11 through SUNDAY, MAY 13:
This May has been warmer than usual, but the winds have been pretty much what we expect. This weekend will be dry, and will be hot - highs of 100 degrees F on Friday, cooling a bit to highs of 90+ by Sunday. Winds on Friday will be a blowout all over, from the southwest. Top winds in the 25 to 30 mph range. On Saturday, still southwest, and still strong - top winds around 20 mph. On Sunday they get just a little milder, top winds 15 to 20. For sites to fly, on Friday you could fly Dry Canyon, La Luz, Magdalena Rim, Agave Hill, Nelson's Launch and the Little Floridas. But be there really early! The same applies to the rest of the weekend; same sites, same wind direction, just a little milder. But don't launch between noon and early evening. We'll hope that conditions get a little milder as the month goes on - keep the Memorial Day Fly-In in mind, May 25-28. Be safe this weekend, and give me a call if you want to go out Saturday or Sunday.
-Robin
575-541-5744

[RobinHastings]

FRIDAY, MAY 18 through SUNDAY, MAY 20:
Another dry weekend for our area, but at least a little cooler - high temperatures about 90 degrees F instead of 100+. Winds make flying feasible on Saturday and Sunday, but they'll be too strong on Friday, a blowout with surface winds of 20+ mph. Saturday looks like a good flying day over most of our area. Winds will be generally southwest, with highest surface winds in the 10 mph range. Sunday they should be even lighter, except in Alamogordo where they may hit 15 mph on the ground, from the southwest. In Deming the winds on Sunday will be light southerlies, in Las Cruces light to moderate southeast, and in El Paso east-southeast, kind of light. Here's the flying I can envision: On Friday, nothing in our area. On Saturday Dry Canyon, La Luz, Magdalena Rim, Little Floridas, Agave Hill and Nelson's Launch should all be launchable. (Fly Dry Canyon and La Luz pretty early, though.) On Sunday, early flights at Dry Canyon and La Luz southwest launches might work, but don't count on flying in the afternoon - it might blow out. Anapra may be good in the afternoon, and towing at the Exit 116 tow road west of Las Cruces. Training at the Sod Farms should be good, both Saturday and Sunday. I can't go flying this weekend, but I'm sure looking forward to the Memorial Day Fly-In on the one after that. If you fly this weekend, be safe, and post it up so we can all enjoy it vicariously.
-Robin

[RobinHastings]

FRIDAY, MAY 25 through MONDAY, MAY 28 (Memorial Day):
This looks like another flyable weekend! Good for our Dry Canyon Memorial Day Fly-In. The weather will be amazingly consistent: No rain (no surprises there), hot (highs of 95+ F) and somewhat windy, out of the southwest. Friday, expect moderate southwest winds all over, about 10 mph on the ground. On Saturday and Sunday, southwest everywhere, but stronger, with highs of 15 mph. On Monday, southwest again, and back down to the 10 to 12 mph range on the ground. Flyable sites: Dry Canyon, all weekend (but launch early, especially if you fly a PG). La Luz, all weekend, with the same caveat as Dry. Little Floridas, all weekend should be flyable, but go early as the launch can blow out by the afternoon. Magdalena Rim should be good, but keep an eye out for westerly winds - the ridge works best with south and southwest. It's subject to blowout in the mid-afternoon, but should be fine early on and near evening. Finally, Nelson's Launch and Agave Hill should be flyable, with winds a little milder in El Paso than in Alamogordo. The Sod Farms should be very consistent all weekend long, with winds out of the southwest, not too strong. I hope a lot of pilots come to the Fly-In, where I will be the Meet Head this year, but I can understand if you want to get some flying in elsewhere. Be cautious and have fun - airtime should be abundant this weekend.
-Robin

[RobinHastings]

FRIDAY, JUNE 1 through SUNDAY, JUNE 3:
This will be an interesting weekend, in the weather sense. We will start with hot and dry and westerly, as usual, on Friday. Overnight the systems shift - still hot and dry, but coming mostly from east and southeast. By Sunday morning there is a slight chance of rain (that's water that comes from the sky, folks - it's been a while...). Winds Sunday will be mostly southeast, and strong, about 20 mph on the ground. My recommendations for where and when to get in some flying: On Friday, try the Little Floridas (fairly early), Dry Canyon and La Luz. It may be a little westerly for Magdalena Rim. Top winds about 12 to 15 mph. Agave Hill and Nelson's Launch should work well, in El Paso. Watch out for the heat, though, if you're hiking up to those launches. On Saturday morning, in north and northeast winds, 10 mph, Volcanic Peak may be a good bet. The winds will switch to easterly by noon, however. Otherwise, it's a day for our east facing sites: Torrey Paso, and possibly Anapra, and possibly towing on the Exit 116 road. Towing at the Sod Farms looks good for both Friday and Saturday. Top winds around 10 mph. Sunday, it looks like a blowout all over, from east/southeast. The ground might even be a little damp. Anapra could be soarable if the winds let up a little, but otherwise it's a day for relaxing with the family, and probably indoors. It's quite a change from the strong west/southwest we had last weekend. Be safe if you fly, and keep a close eye on wind switches this weekend.
-Robin

[RobinHastings]

FRIDAY, JUNE 8 through SUNDAY, JUNE 10:
This looks like a pretty typical June weekend for our region. Dry, hot, and mostly calm; high temperatures should be close to 100 fahrenheit, and there is only a slight chance of rain, on Sunday. As far as I can tell, the jetstream is going to leave us alone this weekend. Don't expect strong winds anywhere, except maybe late Sunday. However, we should have some decent flying. On Friday, we get light northwest winds in Alamogordo, north-northeast in Las Cruces (about 8 to 10 mph) and north winds (light) in El Paso and Deming. On Saturday, expect light west-northwest in Las Cruces and Deming, light south-southwest in Alamo and El Paso. On Sunday look for west-southwest winds everywhere, light in El Paso and Alamogordo, but 10 to 12 in Deming and Las Cruces. What, do you ask, does all this mean? Well, I'm glad you asked! I'd say that on Friday your best bets for flying are Volcanic Peak near Las Cruces, and La Luz. And towing at the Sod Farm, of course. On Saturday Dry Canyon and La Luz should work well, possibly Nelson's Launch in El Paso, and maybe the Exit 116 tow road west of Las Cruces. Sunday presents more options: Dry Canyon might be the best, Nelson's Launch should be pretty good, and the Little Floridas look promising, if you get there before the winds get strong. Too much westerly component to be good at Magdalena Rim, I think. Sod Farm towing should be fine all weekend long. I am seeing hints that we might get an early rainy season here, which would be welcome if such a miracle came to be. Enjoy the good flying while you can! And be safe...
-Robin

[RobinHastings]

FRIDAY, JUNE 15 through SUNDAY, JUNE 17:
Be careful what you wish for... It looks like we could, at last, have some rain this weekend! The hurricane (now tropical storm) coming up the Gulf of California should start pumping some wind and rain into our area starting Friday night through Saturday morning. That will bring welcome lower temperatures as well as desperately-needed moisture. The system is supposed to move on by Sunday, but there may be some more rain later next week. The flying could be good (prefrontal, eh?) on Friday in Alamogordo. We should get south winds, about 10 mph on the ground, right there. Other locations get more easterly flow: E & SE for Deming, SE for Las Cruces, S/SE for El Paso. On Saturday, the winds are mostly south and southwest, but strong - about 20 mph on the ground, all around our area. And wet, at least so I hope. Sunday, things should be drier, and the winds more typical: Light to moderate, west and southwest. My flying recommendations: Dry Canyon on Friday, nowhere on Saturday, and on Sunday, try La Luz, or Dry Canyon if the road is not too muddy (SW at 5 mph on the ground), Nelson's Launch and Agave Hill in El Paso (5 mph, west), and the Little Floridas, early on (15 mph, west). Too westerly for Mag Rim on Sunday, I think, but otherwise, it looks pretty good. Be safe and enjoy the good weather days when they come!
-Robin
PS - Sad news today: Ann Dunlap, our good hang gliding friend from Florissant, Colorado, died of squamous cell carcinoma this morning. about 4:30 am. She was a lovely lady and a darned good pilot, in her WW Sport 2 135. I'll be grieving for her for a long time to come. I sure hope that her spirit is soaring high, wherever we go after our final flight in life.

[Andy]

Well, we're looking for places to fly this weekend...all of central/northern NM is shut down due to fire danger. Any ideas Robin? Deciding between going south or going north.

[RobinHastings]

I am so sorry I missed your comment, Andy! I would have enjoyed being your driver today at Dry Canyon, which should have been flyable. How about next weekend? I'll keep my schedule open if you have some time for it.
-Robin