TMFA Soaring Outlook
Totnes Model Flying Association
Terrain • Weather • Real Flying Potential
Overall Lift combines thermal activity with terrain-enhanced slope lift. Air Quality reflects gustiness and terrain-related turbulence. A red outline + yellow ! flags excellent lift that may be impractical to use because of strong wind, gusts, rough air or fog / very poor visibility.
| Time | 09:00 | 10:00 | 11:00 | 12:00 | 13:00 | 14:00 | 15:00 | 16:00 | 17:00 | 18:00 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Overall LiftSoaring potential | Good | Excellent | Good | Good | Good | Good | Good | Fair | Fair | Fair |
| Slope LiftTerrain effect | Good | Good | Good | Fair | Fair | Fair | Fair | Fair | Fair | Fair |
| Thermal LiftSolar heating | Poor | Fair | Good | Good | Good | Fair | Fair | Poor | Poor | Poor |
| Wind100 m level | ➤WSW 23 mph | ➤WSW 25 mph | ➤W 24 mph | ➤W 25 mph | ➤W 23 mph | ➤W 26 mph | ➤W 21 mph | ➤W 19 mph | ➤W 20 mph | ➤WSW 16 mph |
| Gust10 m forecast | 24 mph | 26 mph | 26 mph | 26 mph | 25 mph | 29 mph | 22 mph | 19 mph | 18 mph | 13 mph |
| Air QualityGustiness / turbulence | Gusty | Gusty | Gusty | Gusty | Gusty | Gusty | Gusty | Rough | Gusty | Moderate |
| Sky Conditions | Mainly clear | Mainly clear | Clear | Clear | Clear | Mainly clear | Clear | Clear | Clear | Clear |
| Fog / VisibilityNear-surface UKV | Clear24.0 km | Clear29.1 km | Clear36.6 km | Clear48.4 km | Clear56.8 km | Clear59.8 km | Clear56.3 km | Clear56.4 km | Clear44.2 km | Clear40.8 km |
| PrecipitationHourly amount | 0.0 mm | 0.0 mm | 0.0 mm | 0.0 mm | 0.0 mm | 0.0 mm | 0.0 mm | 0.0 mm | 0.0 mm | 0.0 mm |
09:00
Air QualityGusty
Slope LiftGood
Thermal LiftPoor
Wind (100 m)WSW 23 mph
Gust (10 m)24 mph
Sky🌤 Mainly clear
Fog / VisibilityClear · 24.0 km
Precipitation0.0 mm
10:00
Air QualityGusty
Slope LiftGood
Thermal LiftFair
Wind (100 m)WSW 25 mph
Gust (10 m)26 mph
Sky🌤 Mainly clear
Fog / VisibilityClear · 29.1 km
Precipitation0.0 mm
11:00
Air QualityGusty
Slope LiftGood
Thermal LiftGood
Wind (100 m)W 24 mph
Gust (10 m)26 mph
Sky☀ Clear
Fog / VisibilityClear · 36.6 km
Precipitation0.0 mm
12:00
Air QualityGusty
Slope LiftFair
Thermal LiftGood
Wind (100 m)W 25 mph
Gust (10 m)26 mph
Sky☀ Clear
Fog / VisibilityClear · 48.4 km
Precipitation0.0 mm
13:00
Air QualityGusty
Slope LiftFair
Thermal LiftGood
Wind (100 m)W 23 mph
Gust (10 m)25 mph
Sky☀ Clear
Fog / VisibilityClear · 56.8 km
Precipitation0.0 mm
14:00
Air QualityGusty
Slope LiftFair
Thermal LiftFair
Wind (100 m)W 26 mph
Gust (10 m)29 mph
Sky🌤 Mainly clear
Fog / VisibilityClear · 59.8 km
Precipitation0.0 mm
15:00
Air QualityGusty
Slope LiftFair
Thermal LiftFair
Wind (100 m)W 21 mph
Gust (10 m)22 mph
Sky☀ Clear
Fog / VisibilityClear · 56.3 km
Precipitation0.0 mm
16:00
Air QualityRough
Slope LiftFair
Thermal LiftPoor
Wind (100 m)W 19 mph
Gust (10 m)19 mph
Sky☀ Clear
Fog / VisibilityClear · 56.4 km
Precipitation0.0 mm
17:00
Air QualityGusty
Slope LiftFair
Thermal LiftPoor
Wind (100 m)W 20 mph
Gust (10 m)18 mph
Sky☀ Clear
Fog / VisibilityClear · 44.2 km
Precipitation0.0 mm
18:00
Air QualityModerate
Slope LiftFair
Thermal LiftPoor
Wind (100 m)WSW 16 mph
Gust (10 m)13 mph
Sky☀ Clear
Fog / VisibilityClear · 40.8 km
Precipitation0.0 mm
Today at a glance
- Best soaring period: 09:00–13:00
- Mainly slope lift from WSW winds
- Some thermal activity may supplement the slope
- Air quality in the best period: Gusty
- No fog or poor visibility indicated in the best period
Flying conditions: Not recommended for flying
Key – Overall Lift
ExcellentVery strong useful lift expected
GoodReliable lift likely
FairSome usable lift, possibly variable
PoorLittle useful lift expected
Red outline + yellow ! = lift may be excellent, but strong wind, gusts, rough air, fog or low cloud may make it impractical to fly.
Notes
- Forecast uses the Met Office UKV 2 km model for the exact TMFA field coordinates.
- Wind direction/speed at the 100 m level is used for the slope calculation; gusts are the UKV 10 m gust forecast.
- Fog guidance uses UKV visibility, explicit fog weather codes, 2 m relative humidity/dew point and the near-surface fog fraction. This is prioritised over cloud-base estimates because visibility at the strip is the practical concern.
- Terrain effects come from our Environment Agency LiDAR analysis of the surrounding slopes.
- The scoring is an experimental club aid for RC gliding and should be calibrated against actual flying experience.
Weather data via Open-Meteo / UK Met Office. Terrain model derived from Environment Agency LiDAR DTM.
