Skydiving Weather Guide: Rain, Wind & When You Can Jump
Table of Contents
What Is The Best Skydiving Weather?
What Is A Weather Hold?
Weather Forecasts Aren’t Always Accurate for Skydiving
What To Do If The Weather’s Wonky On Jump Day
Key Takeaways
The best weather for skydiving includes clear skies, moderate temperatures, and light, predictable winds to ensure comfort and a safety-first mentality. Skydiving cannot take place in rain, through heavy cloud cover, or in super strong or gusty winds. When conditions aren’t conducive for jumping, a weather hold may pause operations until jump suitable skies return. Forecasts aren’t always accurate until the day-of. If the weather looks questionable on your jump day, call ahead, and if your skydive is weathered out, rescheduling is simple and stress-free.
Skydiving is at the mercy of the weather – always has been, always will be. And although the weather gods are most often in our favor, there are days they prevent us from skydiving. This article will discuss the best weather conditions for skydiving, why we steer clear of iffy weather, and what happens if there’s inclement weather on the day of your skydive. Let’s get into it!
What Is The Best Skydiving Weather?
What weather conditions can you skydive in? Blue skies, moderate temperatures, and light winds come together to make the best time to go skydiving. These skydiving weather conditions ensure that comfort and safety are top priority! Here are some of the most common culprits that put a literal damper on a day that would otherwise be perfect for taking the ultimate leap.
Clouds
Can you skydive on a cloudy day? It depends on the type of clouds. Skydiving with clouds scattered throughout the sky is possible, but a thick overcast layer within a certain altitude range will ground operations. We pay constant and careful attention to federal cloud clearance rules to ensure we will be able to see where we’re going while free-falling through the sky at terminal velocity.
Rain
Can you skydive in the rain? Well, if you can’t skydive through an overcast sky, then you absolutely cannot skydive in the rain! Skydiving in rain isn’t good for our gear and can obstruct vision, which would place skydivers in a situation where safety is not first.
Crazy Temperatures
What temperature is best for skydiving? That’s subjective! Many jumpers prefer warmer temps, because the breeze of freefall provides respite from the heat on the ground. As altitude increases, temperature decreases. This means that it’s plenty colder at 13,000 feet than it is on the ground. This isn’t a big deal if the ground temperatures are in the 70s, but if they’re in the mid-40s, it will be really cold in the sky! Still, people do skydive in the winter months. As long as jumpers bundle up and temperatures don’t prohibit acting with safety first, skydives can be made in the cold.
Wind
Wind is the invisible enemy of skydivers everywhere! Although a bit of wind is good, unpredictable or strong winds are not conducive for skydiving. Have you ever ridden in an airplane and heard the dreaded announcement from the pilot: “Ladies and gentlemen, this is your captain speaking. We’re expecting a little bit of bumpy air ahead. It’s nothing out of the ordinary, but please do return to your seats and fasten your seatbelts.” AH! Now imagine bumping around, suspended under a parachute, and with no pilot to give you a heads up. Luckily, we have weather forecasts that can give us a heads up and tell us to stay on the ground until the wind dies down.
What Is A Weather Hold?
Placing a hold on skydiving operations due to unfavorable weather conditions is called a weather hold. Although disappointing and sometimes frustrating, weather holds give veteran and novice jumpers an opportunity to socialize, learn from one another, and swap stories. It is much better to be on the ground wishing you were in the sky, than in the sky wishing you were on the ground.
Weather Forecasts Aren’t Always Accurate for Skydiving
When should you not go skydiving? When the weather at the dropzone isn’t conducive for jumping. Meteorologists look at radars, data, and predictions, but they’re not actually standing at the dropzone. We all know that it can be cloudy in one town and totally clear in the next, and it’s the same when it comes to determining if the plane can fly.
Skydivers often use more specialized weather prediction tools that allow us to determine if jumping will be possible on any given day. For example, the typical weather app may show us the high temperature of the day and the average wind gust, but apps skydivers use can show the wind shear at various altitudes, the cloud ceiling, and at what time in the day winds will be expected to change.
All that to say … traditional weather outlets may not be accurate, and it can be difficult to tell what the wind and clouds are doing until the day of your jump, in the location of your jump.
What To Do If The Weather’s Wonky On Jump Day
When debating if the weather will be jumpable or not, skydivers often say: You can’t jump if you’re not there. And it’s true! That being said, if the weather is looking iffy, give us a call before you head to the dropzone. And what if your jump gets ‘weathered out’? Don’t worry! Rescheduling your jump is a breeze.
We can’t wait for you to experience the big, blue expanse we skydivers call home – book your jump today!