Are YOU Reading Wind Forecasts WRONG?

In this video we share our secret to scoring more kiteboarding sessions than ever. This little known trick for reading wind forecasts will help you find more wind and stop you from making a very simple yet common mistake. Enjoy!
Learn more about wind forecasts:
• Why the USA is windier...
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[@zyabvit]

can we just take a moment to appreciate how beautiful this darkslide was 3:34

[@ArthurKite]

stylish

[@OurKiteLife]

Thank you ☺️

[@LewisCrathernKitesurfer]

I did, watched it back at least 3 times! Great video thank you

[@jojoma4025]

Never heard term " darkslide". What does this mean?

[@daveoriordan1537]

This is a local effect. I've observed the exact opposite in a number of places. The high-resolution forecasts are actually good enough to predict approximately where a wind line will be over open water. With older low res forecasts this is probably the case, but in the last few years, I've travelled based on the kind of forecasts described in this video and been pretty skunked when the wind line came and sat a few miles offshore. Places that have a Thermal effect will bring the wind in usually so this rule might be specific to areas with Thermals or to the area where she is kiting. Where there is no Thermals and the wind is coming over open water (for example the Atlantic coast of Europe) you may spend your trip watching the wind on the horizon if you follow this advice. (speaking from experience!)

[@SportSoulLife]

I also find that (atleast in my area) setting the app/site to show gusts instead of wind gives a much more accurate reading. The gusts are what determine wether you get your kite up or windeuft board planning that day, or wether you need to downsize, the lulls you can usually ride out with apparent winds. But like i said that may just be my area, where gusts really are about 30-50% of the wind.

[@paddlefaster]

Nice explanation of how to determine true wind speed. Another thing to remember is that over land wind speed is taken 30 to 40 feet over the ground so if you are sailing on a lake the actual wind might be lower or higher. The reason it's good to look offshore when sailing on the ocean is because you're getting the NOAA buoy data and not a forecast.

[@OurKiteLife]

Good point! Thanks for the comment :)

[@vworks3887]

Amazing you guys are!!

[@flaviosanguigni8783]

Great info

[@johnparitosh]

Thanks, great info. And just want to say, your skills are looking really good.

[@OurKiteLife]

Thanks so much! Glad you enjoyed the video 🙂

[@stevewrecks]

Great video great teacher

[@OurKiteLife]

Thank you 🙂

[@paul-akers]

Wow great video great information I didn’t know that and you’re fantastic On that board

[@OurKiteLife]

Thank you! Happy to hear you found the video useful 🙂

[@davem1966]

I’ve been studying these forecasts for the 20+ years i’ve been sailing and did not know this. Great video

[@OurKiteLife]

Thanks!

[@kiteboardingart2416]

NICE!

[@pitterpit9964]

Another very useful video - a very nice darkslide starting at 3:35 :-) Awesome!

[@OurKiteLife]

Thank you 🙂

[@swift2721]

Aaaaw just the thing i needed! :))

[@dougdemonde]

Awesome, I been struggling with local forecast info from Windy in Alvor lagoon in Algarve and Obidos lagoon on Silver Coast Portugal. In Alvor the wind is usually greater than local forecast and in Obidos often less. I will use multiple gridboxs to see if it makes a difference. So useful, thanks.

[@OurKiteLife]

Let us know if it makes a difference! :)

[@daveoriordan1537]

Be careful with this. I've observed the exact opposite of what they are saying on the Atlantic coast of Europe. We've travelled a number of times based on exactly this theory and been skunked due to the forecast sitting offshore exactly as it shows on the forecast map and never actually coming close to shore. In the Nortada regions of Portugal it would usually come in due to the Thermal if it's north winds, but in Galicia for example we've sat there for days watching a wind line a couple of nautical miles outside but never getting close enough in to be usable.

[@dougdemonde]

@@OurKiteLife First observations and not very scientific is that on the Atlantic ocean facing beaches south of Peniche ( e.g. Areia Branca) the method helps and Northerly winds are a few knots more than local forecast. In other places like Obidos lagoon it depends more wind direction and obstacles (hills) in the way it seems to give a lower local knots reading than the average of a few grids. Also interesting with Dave’s comments. I live here so luckily I don’t have to plan the trip. Still this method is very good to fine tune your expectations for a specific spot. More data is useful. :-)

[@alisonestrop8404]

Keep these really informative videos going thanks for the science for us no scientific people!☺️

[@OurKiteLife]

More to come!

[@ArthurKite]

Completely agree! is gusting 22knts here in Fortaleza, Brazil and the forecast is for just 13knts. 12km from the cost the forecast is predicting 19knts, much closer to reality.

[@OurKiteLife]

Thanks for sharing that observation!

[@jeremiasrobinson]

Here in the Colorado mountains, one just has to vaguely guess at what the wind is doing anyway. This will be useful information to me whenever I do visit other places.

[@OurKiteLife]

Hope it helps!

[@joelderby4380]

ECMWF for the win. 3hr model is free with the windy app, but I recommend the paid subscription (only like $30/yr) because some higher winds get averaged out on the 3 hr model. This has helped me get a lot of sessions I would have otherwise missed.

[@OurKiteLife]

ECMWF is great! Wish ikitesurf had it built in

[@andybodrog7541]

good info, here in miami its always onshore wind on windy and mainly green

[@OurKiteLife]

how’s the wind there in summer months? Any thermals?

[@surfn-]

How do you enable the grid on the map? I'm using Wind Alert, can't seem to actually see the 2km grid for WRF.

[@OurKiteLife]

that was artificially overlaid to make a point

[@jojoma4025]

Free user. I fly RC planes. I put in drone profile but it still shows higher winds as green color which for most windy users is GO. With RC models /drones I would prefer to see green color associated with lower wind speeds. Can this be done with Pro?

[@SimcoeAce]

One of the odd things I've noticed is that ikitesurf forecasts always tended to be higher than Windfinder forecasts ... until the last couple of years, where that pattern reversed itself. Either way, when there is substantial disagreement between the various forecast models the likelihood of consistent wind is not high. :(

[@OurKiteLife]

Both apps have the same models but the presentation can vary and perhaps not be in sync… personally we haven’t been using Windfinder for the past few years because we prefer the iKitesurf map view where we can click out a few kilometres from the shore for the forecast

[@emilianor]

Hi, one rapid question, what do you use in your sunglasses to avoid water drops?

[@OurKiteLife]

Nothing! Perk of kiting in fresh water :)

[@kite666G]

You just gave away one of kiteboarding's biggest secrets. thank's for that now all days will be busy....lol

[@OurKiteLife]

nah, we told our friends about this for years, and most are still stuck to checking exact spot forecasts, conversion rate was about 10%

[@thekiteboatparty3568]

get predictwind! too hard to go into it in one comment but multiple models, Proprietary high res models, validation and local live wind and cameras make it second only to a whatsapp/messenger group of your mates watching the spots you all kite

[@Rjay259]

A forecast is only the best guess by all the computing power that the met forecasters use. Reality will always be different.

[@slappyosis]

Here one of our most beloved forecast is the TAF forecast but it doesn't looks like you guys use it at all, you have CYTC and CYYZ right close by to Kipling too. wtfbc.ca/taf.php?station=CYTZ wtfbc.ca/taf.php?station=CYYZ

[@OurKiteLife]

we sometimes use CYTZ, but it’s s less accurate than our own sensors, still check CYTZ numerous times a day

[@slappyosis]

@@OurKiteLife I'm not talking about their sensors, I'm talking about the TAF forecast. Nav Canada pays professional meteorologists to provide high quality forecasts 24h out for every major airport in Canada. Locally in Vancouver it's by far the best tool we have for forecasting.

[@feritall]

So basically, wind forecasts are good, but they are not what we think 😉

[@DMT4Dinner]

Reference video

[@OurKiteLife]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/fnuViKNud52IpNU

[@BenjaminLovelady]

Super interesting info, but doesn't help me with my thermals 💨

[@OurKiteLife]

For thermals check out our clouds video

[@user-sm9di8le2x]

Я с Украины у нас не плохо дует

[@kiteboardingart2416]

Где именно? Украина большая!