Mount Diablo Hourly Weather Updates gives hourly updates on wind, gusts, temperatures and solar heating (cloud cover). The sensor is at the peak (the same place as the WOR wind talker). It is not up-to-the-minute, like a real wind talker, but it gives a pretty good idea of the day's winds before you decide to drive to the mountain to fly. It also is a good tool to see what the day's winds were at the peak on a particular day you flew the site, so you can compare the measurements with the actual flight conditions. Sometimes there's quite a mismatch, since launch is about 1000' below the peak. You can use this information in a variety of ways to learn more about the weather patterns around the mountain. Caveat: This site has a glitch in the reported wind direction, in that there is a repeating theme between the directions of the prevailing winds and gusts.
Mallory Ridge Hourly Weather Updates Mallory Ridge is at 2040' elevation and about 4 miles SE of Mount Diablo. This site gives wind and weather information that is relatively near Mount Diablo, but at an elevation that is about halfway between our launch and LZ.
Las Trampas Ridge Hourly Weather Updates Las Trampas Ridge is about 5 miles WSW of Mount Diablo peak, at 1760' elevation (about the same as our alternate LZ).
NOAA Weather Station is similar to first site, listed above, but a little more up-to-date. You can generally see conditions every hour, at about 20 minutes past the hour. Plus, you get some graphical displays.
Calling 925.685.4567 gives you a recorded message with the wind and weather at the Concord Airport (24' elevevation; about 11 miles NW of Mount Diablo. It is updated hourly, typically at about 55 minutes past the hour. You can convert the Celsius temperature to Farenheit by doubling the degrees Celsius, subtracting 10% and then adding 32. (Example: 16 degrees Celsius is doubled to 32, minus 3.2 for 29, add 32 = 61 degrees Fahrenheit.) A good spread between the airport temperature and the Mount Diablo temperature is 12-15 degrees Fahrenheit. This gives about the right lapse rate for decent thermal soaring, although you can have great flights with much less.
The WOR wind talker, 925.838.9225, is usually unreliable.
Info courtesy of Bob Clem.
Mallory Ridge Hourly Weather Updates Mallory Ridge is at 2040' elevation and about 4 miles SE of Mount Diablo. This site gives wind and weather information that is relatively near Mount Diablo, but at an elevation that is about halfway between our launch and LZ.
Las Trampas Ridge Hourly Weather Updates Las Trampas Ridge is about 5 miles WSW of Mount Diablo peak, at 1760' elevation (about the same as our alternate LZ).
NOAA Weather Station is similar to first site, listed above, but a little more up-to-date. You can generally see conditions every hour, at about 20 minutes past the hour. Plus, you get some graphical displays.
Calling 925.685.4567 gives you a recorded message with the wind and weather at the Concord Airport (24' elevevation; about 11 miles NW of Mount Diablo. It is updated hourly, typically at about 55 minutes past the hour. You can convert the Celsius temperature to Farenheit by doubling the degrees Celsius, subtracting 10% and then adding 32. (Example: 16 degrees Celsius is doubled to 32, minus 3.2 for 29, add 32 = 61 degrees Fahrenheit.) A good spread between the airport temperature and the Mount Diablo temperature is 12-15 degrees Fahrenheit. This gives about the right lapse rate for decent thermal soaring, although you can have great flights with much less.
The WOR wind talker, 925.838.9225, is usually unreliable.
Info courtesy of Bob Clem.