Hang Gliding and Paragliding Volume 44 / Issue 1: January 2014 | Page 59

but some claim they saw an ark floating by. In any case we must be aware
that change is afoot (or aloft) and we
need to prepare. If it rains more in
our flying area, what are we going to
do? Maybe change lifestyle a bit so we
have more flexibility to go flying on
the sunny days. Maybe even consider
an easier-to-fly wing if we only get a
fraction of the normal annual airtime.
Interestingly, I have seen predictions that the southeast of the US will
get drier. In any area where aridity
increases, we should be ready for
stronger thermals. That’s not necessarily a bad thing if we aren’t already
in an area where thermals are jawdropping. Many of us have experienced the increase in thermal strength
in drought years at our local sites, so
the prospects are real.
In addition, some areas may
experience stronger winds or at least
a difference in wind patterns with the
weather changes. This past summer

we had a number of blown-out days
that were predicted to be perfect.
We stood around and kicked rocks,
imagining them to be the weather
service, most of the day. My solution
(seriously) is to pack a book. Reading
is much more satisfying than whining!
It is my conjecture (unproven
theory) that the weather service has
spent the last few decades developing
complex differential equations to predict conditions, and now that things
are out of whack, they can’t easily
alter those equations. Or, it may just
be there is more chaos in the atmospheric system. In either case, most of
us know the weather is broken—predictions are much less accurate than
in the past. For that reason I recommend two measures. First, increase
data by connecting to more resources
(such as Intellicast and Weather
Underground). Combine them all
and make your best guess. We do this
locally and have a lot more discussion

before we chose a day, site and time. It
seems to work most of the time.
Secondly, while I don’t recommend flying in winds that are stronger
than your normal safety cutoff, I do
recommend becoming an expert in
light winds. Half the time we find
conditions weaker than predicted.
Scratching skills are going at a premium. We have written about them in
the past, and will simply say here that
scratching is fun in its own right—as
long as it doesn’t happen all season!

W

e’ve always known that the
weather is less than predictable. Now it seems to be
entering a new era of unreliability so
pilots will need to increase awareness
and be prepared or will need to be
repaired. We may be losing or gaining green as weather changes in our
region, but hopefully we’ll always be
able to thrive in the blue.

HANG GLIDING & PARAGLIDING MAGAZINE

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