On Friday, February 12, 2016 at 7:35:58 PM UTC-8, Ramy wrote:
I found that all I ever need to be able to predict the weather with over 90% accuracy up to 3 days in advance is blipmap and RASP (combined with NWS forecast discussion). I never used any other tool since blipmap was introduced 15 years ago. Seem to work well for me.

Ramy

Ramy,

I agree that the a quick look of two dimensional BLIPMAP thermal heights and cu cloud coverage out for a couple of days (NAM) is a very efficient way of planning soaring flights. RASP, if available in your region, gives fine detail of convergence lines as well.

However, Skew-T plots no longer work on his site probably because they rely on the browser java plugin (similar problem with XCSkies). You can pull up on BLIMAP a static Skew-T graphic (Java browser plugins are going away soon - ESRL NOAA has an html5 version).

A more detailed look at the soundings over a soaring area gives more detail about trigger times, thermal height over the day, and wind profiles. Although that level of detail takes more time to examine, it can be useful. Software tools for analyzing soundings is the subject of my SSA 2016 Greenville presentation. There I will give an overview of the ESRL NOAA Interactive Skew-T, BUFKIT for time series plots, and the RAOB.com program. Detailed "how to use" videos will be provided. All this will be posted here and other places soon ...

Walt Rogers WX