Finding Wind for Kiteboarding
Finding Wind for Kiteboarding
Are we lucky or what? Talk to the old windsurf guys and hear the stories of standing on the beach for 8 hours hoping for a white cap.
Well, those days are gone. Now you just need a good internet connection and a little time to find some great sites, and you can score a great kitesurfing session about 80-90% of the time. Throughout this article are some great links to help you to dial in your sessions without driving so far. Of course, some of us are spoiled and can drive by the beach to check the wind. Right now as I type this, it's blowing about 4-6 out of the southwest. Since I know the forecast and the local secrets, I am not planning on riding today. Maybe I will go paddleboarding with my son.
4 Areas of Coverage:
Local Knowledge, Forecasting Sites, Live Wind and Webcam Sites, Water Temperature Sites.
Local Knowledge
This can be one of the most important things to know in scoring kiteboarding sessions. The best way to get local knowledge is to take the locals out to a nice steak dinner with some good beer. Of course, hanging out at the beach, bringing some pizza and being polite also works well to learn those local wind secrets.
West Michigan knowledge - I am focusing on our local scene to help you develop a sense of what your local kiteboarding beach may deliver.
South winds in the spring - ride early in the day or the cold water will shut down the wind in the afternoon on a sunny day. You will go nuts seeing the flag cranking inland only to get to the beach and have 5mph winds. Our kiteboarding crew is often on the water at daybreak to get their riding time in and then be to work on time.
North wind afternoon thermals in the spring and early summer - Muskegon is famous for this. NE-NW under 10mph all day, and at 2pm on a sunny day the winds fire and turn on from the NW. This wind will sometimes move south to Grand Haven, but there are no guarantees. Check out the Muskegon Met site for real time readings and watch the chart. Just watching the chart will increase your wind knowledge to help you score more kite surfing sessions. Here is the live time link to the Muskegon, Michigan kiteboarding beach.
The Bend in our lake - Check out what beach you ride on and get the real direction it sits at. South Haven on a north wind is side on. Grand Haven sits almost directly side shore and Muskegon is a bit off shore. What direction does your beach sit? This is a critical question since kiteboarding beaches only 2 miles apart can be set up very differently.
Little Point Sable is our summer magic kiteboarding spot. Lake Michigan can be blowing 5mph everywhere except at the point where you may get blown off the water on a 9 meter kiteboarding kite. Little Point Sable has 2 things going for it as a great south wind Great Lakes kiteboarding beach. 1st is the large set of sand dunes just north of the beach. These dunes heat up on a sunny summer day and pull the wind off Lake Michigan with tremendous force. The 2nd area is the squeeze point in Lake Michigan right at the Point. Wind blowing from the south is compressed into a small area and gets pushed out along Lake Michigan like water from a hose that has been almost pinched off.
What are your local wind secrets? Remember to ask your local riders while you are buying them a beer. As someone who is very familiar with my local secrets, it is much easier for me to score a great kitesurfing session than a new rider. I very seldom miss the local magic.
Websites: There are a quite a few websites to check for your forecast and, even better, your local wind speeds. Some of these sites you might have to pay for, but hey, $20 a month is nothing if you score an extra session.
What should I look for in a kiteboarding website?
Forecasting Sites
Sites that provide wind forecasts are great, especially if you take the time to study which sites work best for your local kiteboarding beach. These sites are becoming very reliable, but never perfect. Here are a few basic rules of thumb as you look at forecasts.
1 ) 24 hours in advance is very accurate, 48 hours 60-80% chance and more than that the odds continue to drop.
2) Time of the year makes a big difference in short and long term projections. I am writing this from the Midwest and it works like this: Summer - a 3-5 day forecast can be very accurate. Our systems are moving slowly and there isn't much strange weather to change the game. Spring and Fall the fronts are moving quickly and often mixing with other systems. 1-3 days are your best bet. What are your weather patterns? Learn them and you will score more.
3) Find the site that works for your area - yes, they are all different and some places are projecting at an airport 10 miles from your beach. Look at 3 or 4 before your next ride and see who seems to be on track.
4) Pick the site with the best forecast! We all need to be optimistic. It's not always right, but your mental state will be better.
Some great forecasting sites:
Www.windguru.cz - see if your area is on it. If not, you can add your kiteboarding beach.
www.ikitesurf.com - Nicely laid out - a subscription is needed for real time weather updates. Also known as www.iwindsurf.com, they have a great mobile app that will update you right in the middle of your work day and make you crazy, but will make sure you score as soon as you are done.
www.noaa.com - NOAA is the Big Daddy of weather sites and it is free. They offer real time weather from the water buoys that give you wave height, water temperature and air temperature. You will need to spend some time to find your best spot on their website for your kiteboarding beach. Here is our local "Muskegon Met" real time kitesurfing link. It is right on the pier in Lake Michigan where we ride. This one is always on my phone.
www.weather.com - These guys are really good and they have good apps for your phone also. Weather.com is nice since they cover almost everywhere.
Real Time Sites and Webcams
Basic rules for accuracy
1) Try to find out the exact location of the wind gauge. Many will read great in one direction and not at all in another. Trial and error and checking with some locals works with these kite surfing tools.
2) How close to is the wind gauge to your riding spot? 2 miles can be a pretty big change or no change at all. It is up to you to spend the time to figure it out. Trust me, it is worth it.
3) Whitecaps or wave caps on your webcams - not a big issue, but sometimes wave caps will sucker you in. Look close and then look close when you hit your beach.
www.wunderground.com I like wunderground because they use local weather stations and sometimes you can find an excellent wind gauge in your neighborhood that you had no idea was there. Type in your zip code and scroll down until you hit local sites. Start looking at the maps and watching real time wind speeds.
glerl.noaa.gov/metdata/mkg/ This is one of our local piers on NOAA's website. Dead on since it sits on the pier and is right on the water. Start watching one like this at work - you'll go nuts.
www.surfgrandhaven.com This is one of our local webcams. Search for webcams in your area, bookmark them, and see which one works well for your kiteboarding beach.
www.ghsteelheaders.com This is for the other side of our pier. Gives good wind readings on a north, but not on a south. Since it can be butter flat due to the pier, looking for locals ripping it up on the water is a good indicator also.
Water Temperature Sites
All right, no laughing at us northern boys. Our water temps vary from frozen solid to 75 degrees. Even in the summer our water can flip over and go from 70 down to 55 overnight. If you show up to the beach with no wetsuit, you might be in for a pretty brutal surprise. Here is a link to Lake Michigan surface temperatures - They also have a link to Lake Huron, Lake Superior, Lake Erie and Lake Ontario.
We hope this gets you another 20 days on the water next year.