Have a look at our free weather models to predict thermal soaring flight conditions (e.g. for paragliders, sailplane and hangliders). Quickly find when and where to fly, based on forecasts for thermals, wind, clouds, rain, etc.
There are several graphical interfaces to choose from:
The forecasts are based on the following models:
There are also many original documents to understand the weather conditions and the use of the tools in this website. The concept of convective boundary layer, also called diurnal planetary boundary layer is extensively used (often not taught in pilot training courses).
The page soarV2 is a new user interface to browse the forecasts of both models, soarGFS and soarWRF. It is an open-source project, your feedback and contributions are welcome on the GitHub repository.
1 : Global Forecast System
2 : Weather Research & Forecasting Model
Following an increase in the power of our servers, we have extended to the next 4 days the soarWRF forecasts computed using a 6-km resolution grid for the Alps. Select the model soarWRF to view them.
In addition, soarWRF forecast results are available a little earlier than before. For example, forecasts for the following day are available around 4pm CEST instead of 5pm CEST.
Moreover, the soarV2 page can now be “installed” like an app on mobile devices. The benefits are that you can always have it to hand, it is faster to start, and it takes advantage of the device’s entire screen.
Finally, thanks to the work of numerous volunteer contributors, the soarV2 interface is now available in 7 languages. Many thanks to them!
We have just published the French version of soarV2, and translations in more languages are ongoing. Select the language by clicking to the Settings from the main menu. We are looking for volunteers to contribute translations in more languages (German, Italian, etc.).
We also published a PDF documentation for soarV2.
It is now possible to browse the results of the WRF model (2 km resolution) for the Alps in soarV2. The main advantage of soarV2 is that it shows a lot more points than the original tool soarWRF. Feel free to give us your feedback!
We would like to increase by an order of magnitude the number of points shown in our alpine high-resolution forecast (soarWRF). Our lead developer needs your support to fund this major improvement. Learn more and support.
Since the 1st february 2023, the main address of soaringmeteo is https://soaringmeteo.org. Any other address won't work anymore. Especially, the .ch version of this domain no longer works and is not associated with our service. Please update your links and favorites.
We are currently working on a new version of Soaringmeteo, which should be easier to maintain and evolve. It does not yet support all the features of the current version of Soaringmeteo, but it provides a higher resolution for long term GFS forecasts. This new version will be progressively improved until it includes all the current features.
We encourage you to try it here: soaringmeteo.org/v2. You can also follow and contribute to its development here: github.com/soaringmeteo/soaringmeteo.
Due to the fire which impacted an OVH datacenter, we have to switch back to the standard OpenStreetMap tiles. The Soaringmeteo map background will be back in a few days.
In order to move away from GoogleMaps we have designed a new map design based on OpenStreetMap data. When finalized, the map design will be opensourced.
If you have any issues with the new website, please contact us!
Your donations helped to pay for the costs of running the servers, it is appreciated!
Although most of the changes on 2017 has no visible effect, a major effort went into reinstalling servers, improving source quality and use of a version control system, etc. This changes make the long term stability better and improve the capactity to make controlled updates.
Thanks in advance for considering providing financial support this year too!
CSM – Club Soaringmeteo
CH-1867 Ollon
IBAN:
CH10 0024 3243 2069 1401 P
Copyright 2021, Soaringmeteo - All rights reserved. / The forecasts and the documents on this site are free for personal use but not commercial use nor their changing (including headers) before distribution or their intellectual ownership changing. / Visitors to this website use information at their own risk: the author of this site can not be held responsible for injuries or damages whatsoever due to information published on this site.