The skydiving weather app built around the jump
A normal weather app tells you it is 21° and partly cloudy. That is not the question on a jump day. You want the wind where you get out, the wind under canopy, the wind you land in, what the cloud is doing between you and the ground, and when the calmest part of the day is. That is what the weather screen in Manifest shows, for any dropzone.
Winds aloft for skydiving, in three numbers
Manifest boils winds aloft down to the three heights a jump actually passes through:
- Up where you get out: wind and direction at 13,000 ft above the dropzone.
- Under canopy: wind and direction around 3,000 ft, where you fly your pattern from.
- On the ground: the wind you land in, with what it is gusting to.
Between those rows the app adds a short note when the wind changes a lot on the way down: when it turns 40° or more, or when it picks up, eases or falls away by a big margin. “Wind eases to 1 kt” under canopy is a different landing to the 14 kt you exited in, and you see that before you board.
Want everything? Open the full profile and you get the wind every 1,000 ft (or every 300 m), each level with its direction, temperature and cloud. Heights are above the dropzone, and the screen shows the ground elevation it is working from.
Cloud, by layer
Cloud is the other thing that holds loads. Manifest gives you a one-line summary first, such as “No cloud layer up to 14,000 ft”, then cloud cover for each band: low (below about 10,000 ft), middle (10,000 to 26,000 ft) and high (above 26,000 ft). It says plainly that these are the forecast model’s bands, not a measured cloud base. Cloud clearance is your dropzone’s call.
Is it jumpable today?
Manifest deliberately does not answer it with a green tick or a red cross. Whether a load flies depends on the aircraft, the dropzone’s cloud policy, the S&TA on duty, and who is on the load. Some dropzones fly through conditions that hold others on the ground.
What the app does is give you the numbers that decision is made from, so you can judge it for yourself before you drive:
- The next few hours: a strip of hours from early morning to late evening, each with sky, temperature and wind, with sunrise and sunset dropped in where they fall.
- The day in one line: for example “Rain around for parts of the day”, followed by the calmest window left in today’s daylight, such as “Calmest 19:00 to 21:00”.
- Tap any hour and the whole screen moves with it: sky, winds at each height, cloud and the notes in between.
- Sunrise and sunset for the day you are looking at, in the dropzone’s own local time, so you know how long the light lasts for a sunset load.
Then compare it with your own limits. Your licence, your canopy and your currency set what you should jump in, not the forecast.
Dropzone weather for any dropzone
The weather screen opens on your home dropzone, with the field itself as the background and the forecast cloud drawn over it. Switch to any other dropzone from the picker at the top, say before a boogie, then jump back to home with one tap.
Units follow your settings. Wind in knots, mph or m/s, heights in feet or metres, temperature in °C or °F. Tap the wind unit on the screen to change it on the spot.
The data is a forecast from the Open-Meteo weather model, for today and tomorrow. Every number on the screen, including “Now”, is a forecast, not a reading from a wind sock or a station at the field. Weather is part of the free app.
How it works
- Download Manifest from the App Store and set your home dropzone.
- Open Weather. You see the sky, the ground wind and gusts, and the next few hours at a glance.
- Read the three winds: exit, canopy and ground, plus any turn or change between them.
- Scrub the hours to find the calmest window, then check sunset.
- Open the full profile if you want every 1,000 ft and cloud by layer.
At the dropzone: the desk and the hangar TV
At dropzones running Manifest Desk, weather is part of the system too. The desk’s top bar always shows the current ground wind at the dropzone, so manifest staff never have to look it up. The hangar board on the TV shows the wind, the temperature and sunset at the dropzone, next to the loads and the calls. If your dropzone also uses Manifest for live loads and load calls, you know when you are going up as well as what it is like up there.
A word on safety
Weather in Manifest supports your judgement and the dropzone’s. It never replaces either. A forecast model can miss a local gust front, a sea breeze or a cloud bank sitting over the field, and global models are weaker in complex terrain like fjords and mountains. Look at the sky, look at the wind sock, listen to the S&TA and the pilot, and stay within your own limits. If the dropzone holds the loads, the loads are held.
Manifest is free on iPhone, with weather, 3D replays of your jumps, live loads and more. Read what else is in the skydiving app, or go back to the home page.
Frequently asked questions
Does Manifest tell me if it is jumpable today?
No, on purpose. Whether a load flies is the dropzone’s decision and depends on the aircraft, cloud policy, the S&TA on duty and who is jumping. Manifest shows the wind at each height, cloud, rain and the calmest window, so you can judge it yourself.
Does the app show winds aloft for skydiving?
Yes. It shows the wind at 13,000 ft where you get out, around 3,000 ft under canopy and on the ground with gusts. The full profile lists the wind every 1,000 ft above the dropzone with direction, temperature and cloud.
Where does the weather data come from?
It is a forecast from the Open-Meteo weather model, for today and tomorrow. Everything on the screen, including Now, is a forecast, not a measurement at the field.
Can I check the weather at a dropzone that is not my home dropzone?
Yes. Pick any dropzone from the picker at the top of the weather screen, then tap once to go back to your home dropzone.
Can I see the wind in m/s or mph instead of knots?
Yes. Wind can be shown in knots, mph or m/s, heights in feet or metres, and temperature in Celsius or Fahrenheit.
Is the weather screen free?
Yes. Weather is part of the free Manifest app on iPhone.