About wind data

In short

Every spot page shows what a month is usually like. Data is based on the 3–7 years averages of weather data, depending on the data available, worked out by Kite Jungle for each spot.

The data comes from weather models, not from a weather station at the beach; so it can sometimes miss very local effects. It's not a forecast either: a windy month can still have a calm week. To see the forecast, use the Forecast tab.

Windy days

A day counts as a windy day when the wind blows at least 12 knots for at least 2 hours during daylight. Wind at night or at dawn isn't counted.

The 12+, 15+, 20+, 25+ and 30+ knots count the same way with a higher limit: a 20+ day had at least 2 daytime hours of 20 knots or more. So the 15+ number is always the same as or lower than the 12+ one.

Average wind and gusts

• Avg. wind: the average wind during daytime for all days of the month
• Avg. wind (12+ days): only the days that reached 12 knots (or a different threshold). It is a more realistic expectation of what the wind is usually like when it blows. Calm days don't pull it down.
• Avg. gusts (12+ days): the average of the strongest gusts during the daytime of those days. The bigger the gap between the wind and the gusts, the gustier and less comfortable the wind. If there is average gusts data, it means there is no enough days or data to provide the value.

Sun, rain and temperature

• Sunny day: the sun shines for at least 70% of the daylight hours.
• Rainy day: at least 2 mm of rain that day. That matches the usual 1 mm rain days of weather stations.
• Rainfall: the average total for the month.
• Air temperature: the average daily high and low.
• Water temperature: the sea's long-term monthly average; for lakes, the monthly average of the top water layer, and the months the lake is usually frozen.

Kite score and ranking

Every spot gets a Kite score for each month, shown as the faces on the spot pages, from “naah” to “awesome”. The spot lists are sorted by it, best first.

The score isn't just the number of windy days. It also looks at: wind strength, gusts (the more steady the better), warm air and water, and few rainy days (wind still counts the most); for some spots, the local kite season

That's why a warm spot with 21 steady windy days can rank above a cold, gusty one with 23. At thermal spots, the estimated thermal days count too. For the yearly ranking, spots are ranked by the sum of the monthly kitescores.

Thermal wind

What it is: on sunny days, the land heats up faster than the water. The warm air over the land rises, and cooler air from the sea or lake flows in to replace it: a sea breeze, or lake wind. It builds up around midday, is strongest in the afternoon, and dies down in the evening. Lake Garda, many Greek and Turkish bays, and a lot of lakes and lagoons are kitable mostly thanks to it. For some spots, it simply adds another few knots to existing trade wind.

Why it's missing in the wind stats: thermals are often local, a bay or a lake only a few km wide, between hills or mountains. Weather models look at a wider area and smooth that out, so at thermal spots the wind stats show less wind, and fewer windy days, than there really are. For accurate data, we'd need data from the local meteo station (if one exists on site).

How we estimate it: we look for days when a thermal wind usually forms, sunny and dry, with enough of a temperature difference between land and water. At thermal spots, those days are added to the windy days (“Thermal estimate”).

How reliable it is: it's an estimate, not a measurement. It works well at classic thermal spots, where the season follows the sun and the heat. It's less reliable where the thermal depends on the local terrain, with cold water or fog, or where it adds to a trade wind that's already in the stats. Our tip: check with local kite schools or spot reports.

Waves

Wave stats come from a wave model for the open sea near the spot, in the daytime hours.

• Flat days: the waves stay below 0.5 m all day.
• Wave days 1+ m / 2+ m: days when the waves reach at least 1 m or 2 m.
• Wave height: the average height (the average of the highest third of the waves, like in surf forecasts).
• Swell direction and period: where the swell comes from, and the seconds between the waves. A longer period means more powerful waves.

Lagoons, bays, and spots behind a reef or sandbank can be much flatter than the open sea. On the Great Lakes, the waves are wind waves: short and choppy, with no ocean swell.

Sources

Based on data by Open-Meteo.com (CC BY 4.0), NOAA PSL, and Copernicus Climate Change Service information.

Using our data

The stats, scores, and rankings on Kite Jungle are worked out by us. You're not allowed to copy, scrape or republish them on other websites, apps or services. If you have any questions, you can always reach out.