Wind forecasting/visualization, range impact

[ruby110]

(mod note: split from the Supercharger - St. Charles, MO thread)

I agree with Purplewalt's suggestions but I caution everyone not to assume the wind direction. I drove this route going west and east within the last 6 weeks and the wind was from the east or north east instead of the west as I expected. Check the wind before you leave and during your trip if you have a navigator.

We have been using the Inroute app which shows you wind speed (not direction), elevation and precipitation, among other things, along your route.

 

[Cottonwood]

I agree with Purplewalt's suggestions but I caution everyone not to assume the wind direction. I drove this route going west and east within the last 6 weeks and the wind was from the east or north east instead of the west as I expected. Check the wind before you leave and during your trip if you have a navigator.

We have been using the Inroute app which shows you wind speed (not direction), elevation and precipitation, among other things, along your route.

Another good web site for wind visualization is Windyty, wind map forecast web page. It works well on a smart phone.

As long as conditions stay similar, the energy prediction graph does a good job of extrapolating the energy use over the last few miles to the destination. If the predicted arrival energy is less than 10% or so, slow down a few mph, drive a few miles and check the prediction again, repeat until you have enough reserve for your comfort. I like 10-15% as a minimum reserve. This works best (has the most leverage) if you make speed corrections from the beginning of the trip. If you think conditions may get worse (more headwind, lower temps, etc), leave yourself more reserve.

 

[ruby110]

Windyty looks great! Thanks.

 

[Bottesini]

St. Charles to Independence Superchargers

Hey thanks to all of you for your suggestions! The wind speed idea is great and got me searching around for an app - rather than a web site - that might be useful. I just came up with one called "Wind Speed" at the IOS App Store. I don't know if there's an Android version. It's free and very simple. Just click anywhere on the map and the speed comes up. I zoomed in on St. Charles & it seemed to be calm a couple of minutes ago - 4 mph from the North. I hope it's accurate!

 

[ruby110]

I couldn't find "Wind Speed" as you described. Who makes it?

 

[swaltner]

Since you're on iOS and want the current wind conditions, simply:

- Launch the Weather app, scroll to the current location (far left in the list of locations) and then scroll the forecast screen up. Detailed current conditions including wind is shown in the built-in Weather app.

- Be really lazy and simply ask Siri, "What's the current wind outside?" or some such query.

 

[ruby110]

Thanks. Other apps or websites give predictions as a function of time or distance along a route.

 

[bluefuego]

Thanks. Other apps or websites give predictions as a function of time or distance along a route.

Cottonwood posted a link to this site: Windyty. It does not render on the car's browser, but does work well on my iPhone.

 

[N4HHE]

I have wished for airspeed indicator and wind direction gauges for decades. On motorcycle I know when I am driving into a headwind, or tailwind, but not in the cages.

 

[JohnQ]

I use NOAA's site, aviationweather.com. It provides surface wind forecasts up to 72 hours out in a handy map format so you can look at the big picture over the entire length of your trip. You need to advance the chart by 3 hours for every 200 miles or so you cover. This can make a big difference for fast moving fronts.

 

[Bottesini]

That IOS Wind Speed app that I found the other day turned out to have a couple of maddening problems. Instead of indicating the speed in Miles or Kilometers an hour they have it in Meters and Feet per second!

I kept looking and came up with a couple of others that might be worth looking at:
1: WindCompass is a nicely laid out freebie that shows, temperature, wind speed (in Miles per hour) and wnd direction. I'd say this one is definitely worth a look-see.
2: Windalert is a very elaborate affair with probably more info than anyone but pilots would probably find useful. It's also free but they require you to purchase a subscription to get most of the useful stuff turned on. It's also sorely lacking in any kind of documentation.