Craig's Where to Ride 8/3

[Craig Goudie]

Best bet today is Sulfur which looks surprisingly good. Porbably 6.5 up there from
Noon till 6PM. DC also looking promising from 11 to 2 PM in the 7/12M range. Grants has
7M wind now, but it won't last much past 11AM.

Tomorrow Sulfur continues to kick with PM 6.5 wind.

Weds Sulfur 7.5 PM, Grantsville AM 7, and DC 7.5/12 PM.

-Craig

[Don Losee]

Craig
I am trying to get sharper at weather watching. I have some pretty good training. Flight School. What did you see at DC that made you call the blow today? It was blowing good until 5:30. What are the key factors at DC?
Capt. Don

[Kenny]

Don,

Not meaning to steal Craig's thunder, but whenever you have a decent south flow free of monsoonal activity, DC usually will go off. The other thing to check for is the difference in temperature between Heber and Provo. The gradient is caused by warmer air in the valley flowing up Provo Canyon towards Heber.

The real art in Craig's forecast is how he can tell you what time the wind will turn on and how long it will be good - that is very impressive forecasting!

Kenny

[Craig Goudie]

What Kenny said.

Things that generate a SW flow:
Approaching cold front from the West or NW (occluded fronts considerably weaker)
Approaching short wave (like a mini cold front with kinks in the pressure gradient)
Approaching low pressure from the West
A S or SW Jet Stream coupled clear down to the Surface (mostly happens in Spring and Fall)

Things that kill DC wind.

Monsoonal flow (like Kenny said)
Mosisture in general, though a T-Head wedged at Temp can make it go off just as easily
Temp diffs of less than 20 degrees day to night (like Kenny said)
Fronts which approach from the East (not typical but it does happen)
HIgh pressure over the area in Summer (dead air)
Timing on frontal passage, Strong approaching fronts tend to make the the wind very squirrley after the prevailing winds switch North.

Plus a dozen or so other attributes that make the weather oh, so chaotic.

-Craig

Craig
I am trying to get sharper at weather watching. I have some pretty good training. Flight School. What did you see at DC that made you call the blow today? It was blowing good until 5:30. What are the key factors at DC?
Capt. Don

[Don Losee]

Thanks Craig and Kenny
That is a great check list for DC forecasting. Thanks so much.
Capt. Don