With all the talk of milkweed and other wind detectors, I thought it might be a good idea to talk about weather/wind apps and how we should use them in conjuction with the wind indicator of our choice. Myself, I prefer milkweed above all others. It's great, and it shows micro wind patterns out to 75 yards or more under some conditions. Puff bottles can never show such accurate wind patterns.
But it can a little confusing sometimes as to why wind seems to be so unpredictable and fickle. But I've come to realize wind is a lot more predictable and less of a mystery since I started using Windy.com in conjunction with floaters.
Not only is Windy helpful, it's just plain cool. There's so much you can do with it.
Here are just a few examples, but they are hardly everything Windy has to offer.
These images would be animated on the website. All the little lines will be shown moving with different colors according to the wind patterns, temps, rainfall, or other criteria.
The right side of the screen shows the different criteria that Windy can show.
The bottom of the screen allows you to scan forecast dates and even animate it if you hit the "play" button.
One thing to remember is the ability to monitor the surface conditions or the aloft conditions. HOWEVER...the surface setting cannot show the true wind behavior of the actual ground surface which is what we are most interested in as hunters. No weather app can show the intricate wind patterns that are effected by terrain, structure, thermals and the combination of those and how they interact. "Surface" on Windy is what the prevailing wind is doing above above the influence of terrain. Knowing that data is very helpful if you know how to apply it.
Here is a zoomed in image that will be most useful to predicting wind at stand locations. This particular image is the topo view, but it can also be viewed in a satellite imagery...both views are useful.
The topo image shows how prevailing wind encounters the terrain. It can't show the actual surface behavior, but we can learn to predict the surface behavior by realizing how the wind behaves as it flows over terrain just in the same way we can predict where eddies will occur in moving water...the concept and physics are very similar. Looking at this topo image, it's fairly easy to see where the wind would be stable and where it would eddy. I can look at that topo image and pretty much guarantee where the wind will be stable or unstable with that NW wind pattern.
You'll also notice the label in the center of the image. That's the "Weather Picker". Click anywhere on the map and the picker appears and show the data in that exact spot for whatever parameters you are choosing...wind, or rain, or cloud cover, etc, etc. Click on the tan colored down arrow and it will show the forecast for that area.
Here is the satellite view. Terrain isn't the only thing that effects surface wind, cover has an effect just like terrain structure does, only to a lesser extent.
This image shows the forecast for 6 days out. I personally don't believe forecasts for more than 24 or 48 hours, but some criteria is more accurately forecasted for days ahead.
You can also compare 4 forecast models in order to see how they coincide. Under some weather systems, forecasts don't jive. In those cases I look to see what the overall average is and plan for those conditions.
There are a lot of cool things you can do with Windy.com Some of it, as applied to a hunter's application, needs to be analyzed and adjusted by the hunter in conjunction with on-the-ground experience, coupled with consistent use of milkweed or other longer distance wind detectors. (in other words, leave the puff bottles at home...better yet, don't buy them).
There's another weather site that shows actual surface wind in an exact location. Wundermap (Weather Underground) show personal weather stations (PWS) that shows real time conditions in the exact spot the weather station is located, often in a neighbor's yard that's very close to your hunting spot. There are thousands of them around the country and Wundermap shows their locations. But it only shows what the conditions are IN THAT SPOT. Look at the Wundermap and it (sometimes) shows wind directions coming from every direction, and it is...but in that specific, exact location, that is under the influence of terrain and other structure. Wundermap is useful but the conditions at a PWS even a quarter mile away from our stand site may not coincide with what is going on at out tree stand. That is where experience coupled with Windy.com criteria, allows US to predict wind patterns, not just in the exact patch of woods we plan to hunt, but even in the part of that patch our tree is located where we will hunt.
But it can a little confusing sometimes as to why wind seems to be so unpredictable and fickle. But I've come to realize wind is a lot more predictable and less of a mystery since I started using Windy.com in conjunction with floaters.
Not only is Windy helpful, it's just plain cool. There's so much you can do with it.
Here are just a few examples, but they are hardly everything Windy has to offer.
These images would be animated on the website. All the little lines will be shown moving with different colors according to the wind patterns, temps, rainfall, or other criteria.
The right side of the screen shows the different criteria that Windy can show.
The bottom of the screen allows you to scan forecast dates and even animate it if you hit the "play" button.
One thing to remember is the ability to monitor the surface conditions or the aloft conditions. HOWEVER...the surface setting cannot show the true wind behavior of the actual ground surface which is what we are most interested in as hunters. No weather app can show the intricate wind patterns that are effected by terrain, structure, thermals and the combination of those and how they interact. "Surface" on Windy is what the prevailing wind is doing above above the influence of terrain. Knowing that data is very helpful if you know how to apply it.
Here is a zoomed in image that will be most useful to predicting wind at stand locations. This particular image is the topo view, but it can also be viewed in a satellite imagery...both views are useful.
The topo image shows how prevailing wind encounters the terrain. It can't show the actual surface behavior, but we can learn to predict the surface behavior by realizing how the wind behaves as it flows over terrain just in the same way we can predict where eddies will occur in moving water...the concept and physics are very similar. Looking at this topo image, it's fairly easy to see where the wind would be stable and where it would eddy. I can look at that topo image and pretty much guarantee where the wind will be stable or unstable with that NW wind pattern.
You'll also notice the label in the center of the image. That's the "Weather Picker". Click anywhere on the map and the picker appears and show the data in that exact spot for whatever parameters you are choosing...wind, or rain, or cloud cover, etc, etc. Click on the tan colored down arrow and it will show the forecast for that area.
Here is the satellite view. Terrain isn't the only thing that effects surface wind, cover has an effect just like terrain structure does, only to a lesser extent.
This image shows the forecast for 6 days out. I personally don't believe forecasts for more than 24 or 48 hours, but some criteria is more accurately forecasted for days ahead.
You can also compare 4 forecast models in order to see how they coincide. Under some weather systems, forecasts don't jive. In those cases I look to see what the overall average is and plan for those conditions.
There are a lot of cool things you can do with Windy.com Some of it, as applied to a hunter's application, needs to be analyzed and adjusted by the hunter in conjunction with on-the-ground experience, coupled with consistent use of milkweed or other longer distance wind detectors. (in other words, leave the puff bottles at home...better yet, don't buy them).
There's another weather site that shows actual surface wind in an exact location. Wundermap (Weather Underground) show personal weather stations (PWS) that shows real time conditions in the exact spot the weather station is located, often in a neighbor's yard that's very close to your hunting spot. There are thousands of them around the country and Wundermap shows their locations. But it only shows what the conditions are IN THAT SPOT. Look at the Wundermap and it (sometimes) shows wind directions coming from every direction, and it is...but in that specific, exact location, that is under the influence of terrain and other structure. Wundermap is useful but the conditions at a PWS even a quarter mile away from our stand site may not coincide with what is going on at out tree stand. That is where experience coupled with Windy.com criteria, allows US to predict wind patterns, not just in the exact patch of woods we plan to hunt, but even in the part of that patch our tree is located where we will hunt.
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