Search ... Home About NISC Reference Links Contact Us Weather CLGC Soaring Weather and Data Analysis Presentation to CLGC by Greg Chisholm, December 2000 (pdf 3.3MB) Chicago Soaring Forecasts courtesy of CGC and NOAA-FSL The following SkewT/LogP diagrams provide both actual and forecast soundings. The forecast soundings are derived from the actual soundings via computer simulations: TI's and SkewT/LogP diagrams: Locate the dry adiabat line for the daily forcast high (CGC is approximately 1000mb's MSL). The dry adiabat angles from lower right to upper left - colored blue, numbered in degrees F. Follow the dry adiabat up to the intersection with the sounding. The sounding is the squiggly line depicting temperature as a function of altitude - colored red. This intersection is the top of the thermal for today, given no complications, like clamp. At any altitude, the TI is the difference between the sounding temperature for that altitude and the dry adiabat temperature for that altitude. One rule of thumb is that a glider could expect to top out at TI=-3 (though many have experienced greater heights). Advanced Digital Data Service (ADDS) The National Weather Service's ADDS site contains a large amount of general aviation weather data. These links provide you with direct access to a number of these pages. ADDS main page Joliet Radar Visible Satellite image ADDS Metar Java page FAA Notams (main page) FAA Notams (radius search page) National Weather Service (NWS): forecast for Minooka, IL. Dr. Jack's Blipmaps Direct Link to Dr Jack's BLIPMAP images - Blipmap and Blipspot forecasts. This page contains 4 Blipmap images - Thermal Updraft Strength, Critical Height, Wind Speed, and Wind Direction. It also contains links to the Blipspot forecasts for the CGC location. Note: You must be a Blipmap subscriber to view all 4 Blipmap images. NOAA-FSL MAPS Java Plot for IL59 (CGC) This is the unmodified version or the version from which the above were derived. MAPS Java Plot for Freeport (Albertus) This unmodified version is centered on Albertus for the 2003 Region 7 contest. Forecast by NOAA's Forcast Systems Laboratory. This link provides 5 plots from the current time. I usually select the region around the drybulb from ground (~1000mb) to 10,000 feet (e.g., place cursor to right of drybulb/1000mb intersection, depress left mouse button, drag up and to the left to above 10,000 ft line). Expected cloudbases are indicated by the following: pressure (altitude), wetbulb temp, drybulb temp, and wind direction/speed. MAPS Java Plot for ILX Plymouth State College - skewt/logp for DVN - RAOB - Derived from the 12 hour balloon soundings. Additional Helpful Stuff on the Web DynCorp DUATS on the Web DUAT.com by Data Transformation Plain English METARs Intellicast - Current US Surface Analysis Latest GOES Satellite Sounding for Davenport, IA - This provides hourly sounding - though vertical resolution is poor. Latest GOES Satellite Sounding for Chicago, IL Air Sports Net page for Joliet John Cochrane's soaring forecast links page for CGC General Purpose Sites and Educational Information The following is a collection of sources for the above graphics as well as some selected information sources on reading these graphics. Kevin Ford's Thermal Report Generator MAPS/RUC Page Interactive - home of a java applet that's really cool MAPS/RUC Page Non-interactive - Pick your favorites(ILX/DVN,???) Plymouth State College - depicts parcels -- nice size on a white background READY Page from ARL where you can get animations and pick the size of the plot (first enter your preferred station id (e.g., dvn), pick a size (900x900), start time, number of hours, Full Sounding or only up to 400 mb, select a chart, and Request plot The READY Page for dvn (ilx not in database) Temperature Converter from Intellicast Southern Eagles Soaring Forcast Page a compendium of web weather sites prepared by Chris Ruf Upper Air Data Details- a description of upper air products available and what they tell you. Upper Air Sounding Details - a concise description including parcel trajectory. The Thermal Soaring Adiabat Chart an explanation by P.J. Kelly of the Valley Soaring Association Forecasting Soaring Weather another article by P.J. Kelly of the Valley Soaring Association General Information - GOES Atmospheric Soundings Display Soaring Weather - Shenandoah Valley --- How to read a RAOB/SkewT Soaring Weather - Shenandoah Valley Created by Greg Chisholm December 1998 Modified by Rich Carlson July 2004 Prev Next You are here: Home About Weather Latest Articles Training Weather FC - Saturday Weather FC - Sunday Chicago Glider Club Apparel and Accessories Membership Fees and Charges Login Form Username Password Remember Me Log in Forgot your username? Forgot your password? Back to Top © 2021 Chicago Glider Club