Monday, August 29, 2011

Becoming A Kite Meteorologist

Every avid kiteboarder becomes a virtual meteorologist! (Ever wonder how ALL those kiteboarders show up at the same beach on the same day?!)

The best place to see wind forecasts is iKitesurf.com. Find the launch sites near you and check wind speed, direction and air temperature. This website also has user pages for classifieds and forums.

For mobile, use the WindAlert app, which has a widget you can put right on your homepage for real-time wind updates.

I also use the The Weather Channel app on my phone, (also has a helpful widget for your homepage) for precipitation. For example, if iKitesurf shows a spike of wind for two hours, then it drops, it could be a thunderstorm rolling through. I can check The Weather Channel app for thunderstorm predictions and view cloud radar, to see that big red storm-blob heading my way!

Remember, the speed of the wind tells you IF you are going to ride; the direction it is blowing tells you WHERE. (Only ride in onshore or side-shore winds.)

  

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