Weather Archive for Monday 6/13/05

Unseasonable flow from the east, more like a dry weak Santa Anna rather than monsoonal.  Early on, it was calm up to interstate 15, then increasing east wind east of 15.  The east seemed to push west a bit past El Mirage as the day aged.  There was a neutral zone, and then increasing lower level SW toward Hwy 14 and beyond.  The lower level SW finally pushed through up to Victorville late in the day after 6 pm.

It was gusting over 25 on launch at Blackhawk Launch.  The wind was too much for paragliders east of interstate15 and west of Hwy 14, but the zone in the middle worked well.  Diablo reported max altitudes for the day transitioning the neutral zone (convergence).

The high desert lapse rate and soaring index were good.  Back in the wind, east of the 15, Diablo was working between 6 & 8K.  Air quality was ok over the flats away from the mountains.  Climb rates were weak in the wind.  West of 15 his altitudes got better.  Max was over 12K, and he reported 11 plus for a 15 mile stretch either side of max.  His max climb rates for the day near El Mirage were 1,200 feet per minute.

West of 14 it was still east up high, but down lower the typical heavy SW flow was pouring through the low zone in the Liebre Mountains over Portal Ridge.  Once Diablo descended into the lower SW flow it was game over.  Perhaps a play for the north side of the Antelope toward the Tehachapi Mountains might have enable him to stay above the lower level SW flow, or if he had gotten back to 10ish somewhere past 14 he might have been able to stay above the lower flow long enough to tag the 100 mile mark.  He landed 92 miles from launch.