ParaglidingWX — About

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What you can do here

ParaglidingWX brings together map-based forecast visuals, modern windgrams, a simple hike-and-glide reachability planner, and selected live wind stations—focused on paragliding in western Canada and connected regions.

• Explore the map — Takeoffs, landing zones, live wind-stations, optional forecast overlays.
• Wind Map — Hourly mean wind (or 10 m gust mode) on a grid over the view.
• Thermal Map — Parcel buoyancy averaged through the lowest ~200 meters above terrain.
• Cloud Map — Total cloud cover for the selected forecast hour (HRDPS when available).
• Rain Map — Model surface precipitation rate (not storm totals) for the map hour.
• Wildfires — Merged BC Wildfire Service (official BC perimeters and incident points) with national CWFIS M3 footprints (duplicates in BC are hidden). With the same layer, Canadian NOTAM geometry for restricted airspace and related hazards may appear (see NOTAM overlays). Config can restrict to BC-only or satellite-only.
• Smoke Map — optional hourly ground-level PM2.5 overlay (FireSmoke.ca).
• Windgram — Point forecast sounding: wind, stability, temperature profile, clouds, and notes (see tabs below).
• Hike+Fly — Pick a launch; set glide, airspeed, and wind source (still air, your own wind, or forecast on 1km HRDPS). The map time and altitude bars apply when forecast wind is on.
• Simulation — Play with a simple glider on the map using the same wind and thermal behaviour as Hike+Fly (for entertainment only; see below).
• Historical mode — Use Hist. Data in the windgram or Skew-T panel to replay archived forecasts for a chosen day (HRDPS ~2.5 km only).
• XContest live — Optional live pilots and flight tracks from the XContest.org feed (desktop only; see below).

Map & basemap

The map is built with MapLibre GL. You can switch Topo (OpenTopoMap-style contours and hill shading) and Satellite (Esri World Imagery). Wind and thermal overlays sample Mapzen Terrarium DEM tiles for ground height.

Wind Map

When Wind Map is on, the site requests wind on a regular lat/lon lattice covering (a capped region of) the visible map, using 1km HRDPS weather data. The time slider under the bar (shared with other overlays) chooses the forecast hour. The Altitude slider selects an isobaric level or, in gust mode, 10 m gust and direction—depending on model support.

Thermal Map

Thermal Map uses the same time slider. It estimates mean thermal buoyancy (°C) in a 200 meter layer above the ground at each grid point—conceptually the same parcel-style idea as the windgram (see below). It remains a coarse planning hint, not a substitute for reading the full profile.

Cloud Map

When Cloud Map is on, the map shows total cloud cover for the same forecast hour as the shared map time bar. On HRDPS West ~1 km, the app prefers model total cloud (TCDC) from the hosted grid; if that layer is missing, it falls back to a column estimate from relative humidity (similar in spirit to the windgram’s cloud column). Like Wind and Thermal maps, availability depends on the selected model.

Rain Map

Rain Map overlays surface precipitation rate from HRDPS (model PRATE), in mm per hour for the selected map hour. It is an instantaneous rate, not accumulated rainfall over a storm. The blue scale is tuned for paragliding: even light model rain is highlighted. This overlay also requires HRDPS West ~1 km where the precip grid is hosted.

Wildfires & Smoke Map

The wildfire layer combines BC Wildfire Service polygons and point incidents (where the map view overlaps British Columbia) with Canadian Wildland Fire Information System (CWFIS) mapped polygons for the rest of Canada. Overlapping CWFIS shapes are dropped where they duplicate BC data (same footprint or very close to a BC point incident). Alternate configuration can show BC-only or satellite-only perimeters. All fire geometry is for situational awareness only—not for emergency use, official fire orders, or navigation around active incidents.

CASR CAR 601.15 advisory disk: the red geodesic circle is a fixed planning hint for the lateral limit described in aviation regulations—not the full legal text and not altitude limits. It is not parsed from NOTAMs; see NOTAM overlays for purple and other NOTAM-derived shapes.

The toolbar Smoke Map control toggles FireSmoke.ca hourly ground-level PM2.5 (BlueSky; experimental) and opens a time strip under the toolbar when on. Treat smoke fields as a rough planning hint; conditions change quickly and products may lag reality.

NOTAM overlays (Canada)

When the map refreshes wildfire data, it also requests Canadian domestic NOTAMs from NAV CANADA’s CFPS JSON (the same family of feed as plan.navcanada.ca). Several FIRs are merged and records deduplicated server-side. Only NOTAMs with a parseable horizontal outline (closed polygon from coordinate lists or a circle from radius/centre text) are candidates, and only shapes that intersect the current query area are returned (the request uses a broad Canada envelope so nearby restricted airspace is not lost when you pan). Colours distinguish broad types—wildfire-related CAR 601.15 restricted airspace, military restrictions, skydiving, glider activity, published UAV/RPAS operation areas, CYR-related areas, training/advisory polygons, and a catch-all general category.

Purple is one of several NOTAM colours: it does not mean “fire NOTAM” by itself. The regulatory red CAR 601.15 disk (above) is separate and may be larger or smaller than a fire-related NOTAM circle, depending on how the NOTAM was written.

What we draw (when text + geometry rules match and the area cuts your view):

• Wildfire / suppression restricted airspace — CAR 601.15-style restricted airspace tied to forest fire, wildfire, prescribed burn, aerial attack, or suppression wording, including common fire Q-line markers (e.g. QWFLW, QWMLW, QWELW), as a BOUNDED BY polygon or RADIUS … NM CENTRE … / Q) circle.
• Military / temporary restricted areas — e.g. QRTCA, Aeronautics Act s. 5.1 military restrictions, MIL EXER, or DND controlling-agency wording, with the same geometry sources.
• Glider activity — including QWGLW and narrative glider-activity phrases, with a usable circle or polygon.
• Skydiving / parachutes — drop zones, QWPLW, and similar phrases (circle or polygon).
• Published small-UAV / RPAS operations — circular areas with an explicit RADIUS … NM and wording about remotely piloted operations; broad QWULW matches only when that radius+centre is present. Prohibition cages tied to military/restricted areas or “no drones” bans without a published ops circle are not drawn as RPAS ops.
• CYR (restricted area) geometry — BOUNDED BY polygons classified as CYR; QRRCH handbook-style areas; QRRCD deactivations (disk from chart/Q) text for awareness). QRRCA activations are drawn when the text yields a polygon or circle; activation-only notices without parseable limits may appear in supplementary fields in the API JSON but are not shown as map shapes.
• Training / airspace-safety advisory areas — e.g. QRMXX, AIRSPACE SAFETY ADVISORY, specialty air combat, or air-combat-training “recommended” wording, with parseable coordinates.
• General — other NOTAMs with a BOUNDED BY vertex list or an explicit RADIUS … NM CENTRE … in the English E) section that don’t match the specialist rules above. To avoid bogus disks, we do not emit a circle inferred only from a Q) line unless a specialist classifier also matches.

What we skip (dropped in the server pipeline or not emitted at all):

• Blasting and explosives hazards — quarry, mining, underwater/surface blasting, detonation, and similar (high noise, low value for paragliding site selection).
• ATC radar / SSR outages and IFR routing advisories — facility-outage patterns such as QCEAS and terminal/SSR Q…TAS / Q…SAS codes, plus narrative combinations of radar or SSR unserviceable with routing or altitude-denial language aimed at IFR operators.
• Everything without a usable horizontal limit — plain-language NOTAMs with no coordinates we can turn into a polygon or circle, or geometry that doesn’t intersect the query bounds.

Optional site configuration can also hide specific NOTAM categories in the browser (e.g. an extra filter on top of the server rules).

CFPS JSON is unofficial for third-party use; parsing mistakes are possible. For any pre-flight briefing you must verify with NAV CANADA and official NOTAM/FIR sources—never rely on these overlays alone for airspace or compliance.

Windgram

Open a windgram from a takeoff marker or use Windgram pick-mode and click the map. Windgrams are available for both 1km and 2.5km HRDPS weather models. Height axes show metres with a companion feet scale at major ticks.

Tabs:

• Wind — Wind speed and direction by height; strips for cloud fraction by layer, precipitation, solar (shortwave at the surface), and lift (similar in spirit to Canada RASP).
• Lapse Rate — Stability between model levels (°C per 1000 ft), on a scale aligned with Canada RASP colouring.
• Parcel buoyancy — Surface parcel lifted dry‑adiabatically to the LCL, then moist‑adiabatically; colours show temperature excess vs environment, with entrainment eroding buoyancy aloft.
• Temperature — Environmental air temperature (°C) by height, same vertical layout as the thermal-style tabs.
• Clouds — Vertical cloud cover by pressure level, precipitation, low/mid/high layers, and solar.
• Notes — Read-only hints from the site entry in configuration (local launches and ParaglidingEarth imports).

Hike+Fly planner

After you choose Hike+Fly and pick a launch, the app builds a square grid around that point, pulls terrain heights, and runs a reachability search. Inputs include glide ratio, glider speed, and wind source:

• None — Still air (default until you change it).
• User — Uniform speed and direction from the sliders (meteorological “from” direction).
• Forecast — horizontal wind from the same hosted HRDPS layer stack as Wind Map, at the hour from the map time bar. The planner calculates the effect of wind for each altitude layer as the glider descends.

Shading is a rough “where you might get with this glide” heuristic, not a guarantee of clearance from obstacles, turbulence, or airspace. Paths are simplified for display; always cross‑check with the map and real terrain.

Map simulation (for fun)

This is not flight training, instruction, or a performance model of a real glider. The simulation is a lightweight, exaggerated-time toy: it follows the same wind source rules as Hike+Fly (none / user / forecast), the map time bar for forecast hour, Wind Map / spatial wind where applicable, and thermal lift from the Thermal Map–style buoyancy field. Your glide ratio and airspeed come from the Hike+Fly bar when that strip is visible, or sensible defaults when Hike+Fly is off. Terrain is approximated; physics are simplified. Treat it as a way to explore how the map’s wind and thermals might feel in a cartoon glider—not as a substitute for real-world judgment, aircraft limitations, or an instructor.

How to use it. Turn on Simulation in the toolbar (next to Hike+Fly), then click the map to launch. The glider flies in fast-forward (wall-clock time is scaled up so a short session covers more simulated airtime). ← and → steer. Press Esc or tap Simulation again to exit; if you “land” (altitude intersects the ground model), a crash marker appears until you exit or relaunch.

Flight HUD. While flying you get live readouts for lift (net vertical rate), wind speed and a wind arrow (direction the wind blows, north‑up), ground speed, height above ground and AMSL, simulated air time, and distance travelled.

In-flight controls (toggles).

• Speedbar — Adds about 10 km/h to airspeed and reduces glide ratio by 0.5 (not below the minimum set in configuration). Space toggles it (or use the button).
• Big ears — Reduces airspeed by about 5 km/h and applies extra sink (roughly −4 m/s to the lift term). Ctrl toggles it (or use the button).

Only available on non-mobile platforms.

Weather models

The windgram and Skew-T panels include a Model control to choose between two resolutions (both centred on Canadian HRDPS where applicable):

• HRDPS ~2.5 km — Land-biased Canadian mesoscale from Open-Meteo’s /v1/gem endpoint.
• HRDPS West ~1 km — Higher resolution data hosted on our servers; required for Wind Map, Thermal Map, Cloud Map, Rain Map, and Hike+Fly forecast wind.

Historical data

Hist. Data in the windgram or Skew-T panel switches archive mode for a chosen calendar day (HRDPS ~2.5 km only) using the Open-Meteo API. Wind, Thermal, and Cloud maps follow the same setting when the active model supports historical spatial fields. Rain Map uses the live hosted HRDPS West ~1 km precip grid only; it does not replay archive days from Hist. Data.

Squamish Spit ML forecast

The Spit marker on the map opens a bottom panel with live WeatherFlow data and an on-site ML wind forecast (/api/spit-forecast when the hourly generator has run). For the full technical description—model, inputs, horizons, archive climatology plots, offline sunset-hour mean-wind accuracy, inflow scoring, and permutation-importance notes—see Squamish Spit — ML forecast.

Live wind stations

Markers can open graphs or gauges for configured stations—for example Spit (Squamish), Sea to Sky Gondola, Whistler Blackcomb points backed by whistlerpeak.com, and similar. Data is proxied through this site’s API; accuracy and uptime depend on each source. Public observation networks (e.g. ECCC) may appear where integrated.

XContest live

The toolbar XC live control (desktop layouts only, typically viewports wider than about 900 px) connects to XContest.org’s live tracking feed over a WebSocket. When it is on, a bottom panel opens on the map and stays visible until you turn XC live off again. Pilots and tracks are drawn on the map for situational awareness while you plan—not as an official briefing or navigation product.

What you see on the map

• Pilot markers — 2D dots use status colours (flying / landed / stale). On close, tilted 3D views, each pilot appears as a paraglider model with a stable random canopy colour (one of several built-in palettes); track ribbons keep status colours. Farther out, only the 2D dots show. Click for links on XContest when the feed provides them.
• Tracks — Decoded flight paths and breadcrumb trails when the server sends geometry. Long tracks are simplified for performance. Optional Vario toggle (XC live panel) colours tracks by estimated vertical speed when altitude and timestamps are available (green = lift, blue = sink), with a scale legend; otherwise tracks use status colours. On tilted 3D terrain views, tracks may render as altitude ribbons when height data is available; otherwise a 2D line is used.
• Viewport — Only flights whose track (or pilot/takeoff position) could intersect the current map view are drawn and listed. Pan or zoom to change who appears.

Bottom panel

• Live / Landed / Lost — Filter which status groups are eligible on the map. Lost (stale feed) is off by default.
• In view — Scrollable list of pilots in the current map view. Tap a name to show or hide that pilot on the map (all listed pilots start visible). Choices are remembered in your browser.
• Status line — Connection state and rough counts (flying, landed, on map, hidden by filters, outside the view, and so on).

Flights outside the configured history window (recent days in the feed) are not shown. Track lines generally appear from roughly zoom level 9 upward; pilot dots can appear at lower zoom. The feed can lag reality, drop fixes, or disagree with a pilot’s official XContest page. Do not use XC live for airspace compliance, route planning in controlled airspace, or in-flight decisions. Always verify with official sources, local knowledge, and your own judgment.

XC live is unrelated to the optional KK7 thermal layers and unrelated to OpenAIP airspace overlays.

Launch & landing data

Built-in sites are defined in the app configuration. Additional North American points are merged from ParaglidingEarth material (see their license: CC BY-SA).

Always double-check access, landowner permission, and local rules for every takeoff and landing you consider. Markers on this site are for information only: inclusion here is not an endorsement that a site is open, legal, or suitable to fly.

Airspace

The Airspace button overlays charted airspace from OpenAIP (data © OpenAIP contributors, CC BY-NC 4.0).

When airspace is on, a second row of buttons appears directly under the main toolbar. You can show or hide only these categories; each control turns the matching shading, borders, and labels on or off together: Class E, F advisory, B, Class C/D, and restricted / prohibited / danger / warning.

Typical styling for those toggles in paragliding focus mode (subject to OpenAIP tagging):

• Class E — pale yellow; transitional controlled airspace.
• Class F (advisory) — amber; e.g. Canadian CYA-style advisory areas.
• Class B — rose; large-hub controlled airspace (only when airport-controlled airspace is enabled in configuration).
• Class C / D — blue terminal sectors (same configuration gate as Class B).
• Restricted / prohibited / danger / warning — magenta; do not enter without authorisation.

IFR en-route structures (airways, FIR, UIR, UTA, MTR, MTA) are hidden to reduce clutter that is rarely useful for free flight.

Labels follow the inside edge of each polygon, with ICAO class, identifier, name, and upper/lower limits (e.g. 12 500 FT MSL / GND or FL 180 / FL 125). They appear from zoom ≥ 9 and are collision-managed so roughly one label per polygon shows at a time.

OpenAIP may differ from official nav charts. Class designations, altitude limits, and sector boundaries in OpenAIP are community-maintained and can lag official amendments. Always verify airspace using current official charts, NOTAMs, and CARs/FAR before flight. This overlay is for situational awareness only and must not be used for navigation or pre-flight planning.

KK7 overlays

Optional KK7 Skyways and KK7 Thermals layers come from thermal.kk7.ch. They show historical flight and thermal probability patterns, not a live forecast. Use per KK7 licensing (CC BY-NC-SA).

Privacy & telemetry

Optional Umami page analytics may load on this site (first-party or self-hosted) when configured. It is used for aggregate traffic and page views, not for selling data.

Credits & attributions

• MapLibre GL — BSD-style license.
• Open-Meteo — forecast delivery (see their terms).
• Canadian and international model data — respective meteorological agencies and redistribution policies.
• OpenTopoMap / OSM contributors — topo basemap.
• Esri — World Imagery satellite basemap (see Esri terms of use).
• thermal.kk7.ch — XC thermal layers (CC BY-NC-SA).
• OpenAIP — airspace data (CC BY-NC 4.0). Community-maintained; not for navigation.
• CWFIS (Natural Resources Canada) — national M3 mapped footprints (merged with BC data in the default map overlay; Open Government Licence – Canada).
• BC Wildfire Service — official BC perimeters and points (merged where the view includes BC; optional BC-only mode in configuration).
• NAV CANADA — CFPS Weather & NOTAM opens an empty geographic search unless you define a recall; purple overlays are advisory-only parsed geometry (verify on CFPS).
• FireSmoke.ca — optional hourly PM2.5 smoke guidance (see their site for terms and caveats).
• ParaglidingEarth — supplemental site listings (CC BY-SA).
• XContest.org — live pilot/track feed when XC live is enabled (third-party terms; not affiliated with ParaglidingWX).
• Inter typeface (SIL Open Font License).

Thank you to the open-source projects, data providers, and community sites that make tools like this possible.

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