An accurate wind prediction is worth a lot. Like most of you we need to schedule our kiting to make it fit in our busy agenda’s. So it is important to know the pro’s and cons of the (free) apps and websites with wind forecasts. To our surprise they can be so good they match that of the paid pro account. But some sites just give you a fraction of the possibilities. Often to seduce you to get a paid account. Our advice? Ditch some of the many wind prediction apps and sites and just take one. The right one.
Best free wind predictions
Lets make a difficult subject a lot easier. So yes, it is quite difficult to understand how a wind forecast is created. But it is easy to comprehend that a website that limits the amount of models and the update frequency is less attractive over one that offers more models and doesn’t limit its updates. That is why we made a survey on 4 different kitespots over the world and compared 7 different websites or apps.
The differences between the websites are stunning. Some just provide one model which is updated only twice a day. While others (Windguru for example) provide up to 14 models for one location which are updated up to 8 times a day. For free.
Basic knowledge; km’s, update frequency and origin of model
It doesn’t take long until you realise that models with a high resolutions (recognizable by the number before “km”) are generally more accurate. 5 Km or less is a very good sign. If such a prediction has a high update frequency it becomes even better. By the way this update frequency can be influenced by both the website and the model.
Another added value is related to the location of the meteorological institute. Those local fabricated models (for western Europe for example the German made ICON, Dutch Harmonie and French Arome) tend to be better compared to models which are made on the other side of the world (in this case for example the Australian Zephr).
What is wrong with windy.app and Wisuki?
Simple; the better models are only available at the paid account. These applications are only useful if you try to figure out if you can kite next week. But they are far less accurate for roughly the next 48hrs compared to a lot of other models.
Windy is not Windy
Windy.com is not the same as Windy.app. And the Windy.app desktop version has less over the app. Still the app version is just showing a very limited amount of prediction models. Windy.com is compared to Predictwind and Windguru.
Windguru pro; worth the money?
Our biggest surprise; the free version of Windguru is just as accurate as the pro version. It provides the same amount of models and are updated simultaneously with the pro version. The only relevant difference is that the free version offers this only for all major (and less major) kite spots. Just a few adds to swallow and you can plan you agenda perfectly and spent the money on kite gear (although just a leash or a knife).
So let’s give some space for the man behind Windguru -who gives us so much for free- to seduce us into a paid Windguru Pro account…
`There are differences 😉 described here: https://www.
Hi Nadin,
thanks for posting.
As the title suggests it is focussed and stated about free versions of all websites/apps. So that is why it is much more limited at windy.app compared to windguru for example.
Dave
We Test Kites
Can’t agree with “limited amount of prediction models” in Windy.app. The Pro version has 12 basic models and 2 special ones.
Thanks Dave! I’ve bought the pro version because we should support good websites like WG 🙂
Hi Len,
Thanks!
For the record; WG shows the same models on the free version…
Arome is known to be very accurate. Harmonie and Icon are both pretty good to for the Netherlands.
Dave
We Test Kites
Hi Dave, thanks for the article! What models would you recommend for the Netherlands on the WG pro version? There are a lot of options and the forecasts have varied results between them. Of course it’s pretty difficult to forecast the wind but I’m thinking there should be a couple that are mostly accurate right?
Have you tried igetwind.com ?
Which Windy? .com or .app? Both provide less compared to predictwind and Windguru.
Dave
We Test Kites
Hi Andrew,
All comments undergo a moderation purely due to the amount of the spam.
All 3 of your comments are placed. Or dit you send more?
Dave
We Test Kites
Hi Andrew,
Current wind measurements are also a bit better on Windguru over Windfinder (although this can be really important on the day itself, the article is focused on predictions). Windguru measurements are updated in seconds, windfinder in hours
Dave
We Test Kites
Hi Andrew,
Windfinder is our 5th favorite and listed as such in the table.
Why 5th? Yes it is easy to read but doesnt have only one or 2 models. Which means the chance you miss the most accurate predictions.
Dave
We Test Kites
Hi Karel,
Correct but that changed in 2018!
Dave
We Test Kites
I like how you delete comments you don’t like. Your a real laugh.
And another thing. Forecasting is nice, but is (by design) inaccurate. And it’s worth nothing if reality does something else than what its supposed to do.
Hence, actual current weather data not only helbs you to figure out accuracy, but also enables you to see when the wind has come, when it has shifted and what is really going on. Windfinder has these for some stations easily available. I haven’t seen that on windguru or alike.
For me the forecast is nothing without the current conditions right next to it.
Windguru also lacks a decent app. With poor cell coverage around the coast it simply isn’t what it could be.
But to each their own. I just feel important aspects have been neglected.:-)
Great read, however, you are missing out on windfinder. The logo is up there the tag below as well, it just isn’t mentioned in your article. lol
Which is sad because it is my number 1 goto for reliable, easy to read and up to date forecasts. Usability is probably what puts it first for me.
I was always under the impression that windguru free showed results from 12hrs ago.
We prefer WINDY and for free not wel known WEAWOW this is a top one we use mostly.
Agreed. Usually I use both (a small grid and a multiple grid model) just to check manually.
Hi Arthur,
It is a way to manually correct a model. Not all free versions of the websites allow you to look at those maps (for example I think what is shown in the video is a paid account since they speak of a 2km model)).
If we do look at for instance Arome1.3km on several moments there is no reason to take a 12km of shore forecast as those to the beach are correct anyway (ad more or less the same). So the real question for this video is; isn’t there a model for this region which can just give you the right data for the place you want to kite?
Dave
We Test Kites
Good read! In the light of the High Resolution Models, what is your opinion on checking wind forecast at least 12KM off-shore or using multiple grid boxes outlined in the video below?:
https://youtu.be/YxvDrA8oCnI
Thanks