This upcoming Sunday looks like it could be a great day at Torrey.

Here's the forecast from my program which gets its data from NOAA:


The bottom graph (blue) shows the direction. Torrey faces mostly west, so 270 is good. The middle graph (green) shows the wind speed. You can see that it's going to be strong on both Saturday (20th) and Sunday (21st). But if you look at the direction (blue), you'll see that Saturday's strong winds will be coming from the south (180 degrees), while Sunday's winds are much more westerly (closer to 270 degrees). If you look at the top graph (red) you'll see the combined effect of wind speed and direction. So the only lifting component of Saturday's mostly south wind happens after 6pm when the direction shifts from south to nearly west. But Sunday's prediction shows more of a westerly component all day, so it's got a better chance of being flyable.

Also note that these predictions tend to underestimate the wind speed. So speeds above 10 mph are pretty good, and speeds over 15 mph can be great. Sunday looks great.

The only thing these graphs don't capture well is the chance of rain. If you check the actual site (http://www.wrh.noaa.gov/forecast/wxtabl ... interval=1), it looks like it will be raining Saturday with "Chance Rain" on Sunday. I think I'll take that chance.

Sunday WAS good!!

I got to Torrey around noon, signed in, and set up. I launched right at 1:10pm, and there were no other hang gliders in the air. Before long, there was a light rain coming in over the south (Horizons, Mansions, Gliderport), so I flew north to the golf course and only caught a mild drizzle. But the air was buoyant and I just kept flying. Eventually, the rain moved inland, and I was able to fly from bathtub rock down to the pier and back several times. I flew for exactly 3 hours ... until I was almost too tired to land.

It was an awesome day!!!

Here's the actual wind speed and direction to compare to the forecast...

Good on ya Bob! I took off @ 1:30 - but on an Alaska Airlines flight back to Washington. Darn, wish I could have hung around with you in that air! I'll bet it was a beautiful flight. As we flew north along the coast I was wondering if you were in the air too.

Hi Steve!

It was good flying with you. Now here's the question ... who stayed up longer ... me or you?

You should hop back on that plane tonight and get down here tomorrow. It looks like a repeat of Sunday. Here's the prediction:

It's not predicted to be quite as strong as Sunday, but it's forecast to stay flyable right through sunset ... and then all night long through the 24th.

OK, here's this morning's prediction for the day at Torrey ... let's see if it comes true or not!!