Soaring Guidance
Issued by NWS Salt Lake City, UT
Issued by NWS Salt Lake City, UT
037
UXUS97 KSLC 201228
SRGSLC
Soaring Forecast
National Weather Service Salt Lake City, Utah
628 AM MDT Thursday, August 20, 2026
This forecast is for Thursday, August 20, 2026:
If the trigger temperature of 93.2 F/34.0 C is reached...then
Thermal Soaring Index....................... Excellent
Maximum rate of lift........................ 1552 ft/min (7.9 m/s)
Maximum height of thermals.................. 20708 ft MSL (15782 ft AGL)
Forecast maximum temperature................... 101.0 F/38.8 C
Time of trigger temperature.................... 1145 MDT
Time of overdevelopment........................ None
Middle/high clouds during soaring window....... None
Surface winds during soaring window............ 20 mph or less
Height of the -3 thermal index................. 13126 ft MSL (8200 ft AGL)
Thermal soaring outlook for Friday 08/21....... Excellent
Wave Soaring Index............................. Not available
Remarks...
Sunrise/Sunset.................... 06:43:25 / 20:18:53 MDT
Total possible sunshine........... 13 hr 35 min 29 sec (815 min 29 sec)
Altitude of sun at 13:31:09 MDT... 60.66 degrees
Upper air data from rawinsonde observation taken on 08/20/2026 at 0600 MDT
Freezing level.................. 16815 ft MSL (11889 ft AGL)
Convective condensation level... 17878 ft MSL (12952 ft AGL)
Lifted condensation level....... 18944 ft MSL (14018 ft AGL)
Lifted index.................... -2.4
K index......................... +23.9
Height Temperature Wind Wind Spd Lapse Rate ConvectionT Thermal Lift Rate
ft MSL deg C deg F Dir kt m/s C/km F/kft deg C deg F Index fpm m/s
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
26000 -19.8 -3.6 260 8 4 7.7 4.2 44.7 112.5 5.0 M M
24000 -15.0 5.0 235 7 4 6.7 3.7 42.5 108.5 3.3 M M
22000 -11.1 12.0 230 8 4 6.2 3.4 40.3 104.5 1.4 M M
20000 -7.6 18.3 230 9 5 6.5 3.6 37.9 100.1 -0.9 1488 7.6
18000 -3.1 26.4 225 6 3 8.8 4.8 36.5 97.8 -2.2 1295 6.6
16000 2.3 36.1 230 5 3 9.5 5.2 36.1 96.9 -2.8 1074 5.5
14000 8.0 46.4 235 7 4 9.6 5.3 36.0 96.9 -2.9 843 4.3
12000 13.7 56.7 235 8 4 9.5 5.2 35.9 96.6 -3.1 614 3.1
10000 19.2 66.6 225 8 4 9.1 5.0 35.6 96.0 -3.6 391 2.0
9000 21.7 71.1 215 10 5 8.1 4.4 35.1 95.2 -4.0 287 1.5
8000 24.6 76.3 200 11 6 8.1 4.4 34.5 94.1 -4.7 160 0.8
7000 26.6 79.9 185 14 7 5.7 3.1 33.6 92.4 -5.8 73 0.4
6000 26.8 80.2 165 15 7 -2.6 -1.4 31.0 87.8 -8.5 36 0.2
5000 22.4 72.3 130 8 4 -85.2 -46.7 23.7 74.7 -15.9 139 0.7
* * * * * * Numerical weather prediction model forecast data valid * * * * * *
08/20/2026 at 0900 MDT | 08/20/2026 at 1200 MDT
|
CAPE... +71.7 LI... -1.0 | CAPE... +256.0 LI... -1.5
CINH... -102.5 K Index... +24.9 | CINH... -39.0 K Index... +25.6
|
Height Temperature Wnd WndSpd Lapse Rate | Temperature Wnd WndSpd Lapse Rate
ft MSL deg C deg F Dir kt m/s C/km F/kft | deg C deg F Dir kt m/s C/km F/kft
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
26000 -21.0 -5.8 275 20 10 7.9 4.3 | -20.7 -5.3 260 18 9 8.0 4.4
24000 -16.5 2.3 275 19 10 7.0 3.8 | -16.4 2.5 260 17 9 6.8 3.7
22000 -12.3 9.9 265 19 10 6.6 3.6 | -12.3 9.9 260 17 9 6.4 3.5
20000 -8.1 17.4 265 18 9 6.6 3.6 | -8.2 17.2 260 17 9 6.4 3.5
18000 -3.4 25.9 260 17 9 8.9 4.9 | -3.5 25.7 250 16 8 9.2 5.0
16000 1.9 35.4 255 15 8 9.2 5.0 | 1.9 35.4 245 13 7 9.2 5.0
14000 7.3 45.1 245 11 6 9.0 4.9 | 7.4 45.3 240 12 6 9.4 5.2
12000 12.4 54.3 230 9 5 8.6 4.7 | 12.8 55.0 235 10 5 8.9 4.9
10000 17.4 63.3 200 9 4 7.8 4.3 | 17.8 64.0 215 10 5 7.1 3.9
9000 20.0 68.0 195 9 5 8.9 4.9 | 20.4 68.7 205 10 5 9.2 5.0
8000 22.2 72.0 190 10 5 7.8 4.3 | 22.9 73.2 205 10 5 8.6 4.7
7000 24.3 75.7 185 11 6 6.1 3.4 | 25.6 78.1 205 10 5 9.3 5.1
6000 25.8 78.4 175 11 5 5.1 2.8 | 28.4 83.1 205 9 5 10.4 5.7
5000 27.7 81.9 155 6 3 17.7 9.7 | 34.2 93.6 210 7 4 84.2 46.2
08/20/2026 at 1500 MDT | 08/20/2026 at 1800 MDT
|
CAPE... +327.1 LI... -0.9 | CAPE... +118.9 LI... +0.2
CINH... -15.5 K Index... +25.8 | CINH... -54.6 K Index... +23.4
|
Height Temperature Wnd WndSpd Lapse Rate | Temperature Wnd WndSpd Lapse Rate
ft MSL deg C deg F Dir kt m/s C/km F/kft | deg C deg F Dir kt m/s C/km F/kft
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
26000 -20.3 -4.5 255 20 10 8.0 4.4 | -20.1 -4.2 255 18 9 8.2 4.5
24000 -15.7 3.7 255 18 9 7.5 4.1 | -15.4 4.3 255 16 8 7.5 4.1
22000 -10.9 12.4 250 15 8 6.2 3.4 | -11.0 12.2 255 15 8 7.0 3.8
20000 -7.2 19.0 250 15 8 6.2 3.4 | -6.4 20.5 245 15 7 6.9 3.8
18000 -2.8 27.0 240 15 8 8.5 4.7 | -2.0 28.4 240 15 8 8.3 4.6
16000 2.3 36.1 235 13 7 9.1 5.0 | 3.0 37.4 235 14 7 9.1 5.0
14000 7.8 46.0 230 12 6 9.5 5.2 | 8.5 47.3 235 13 6 9.5 5.2
12000 13.5 56.3 235 11 5 9.5 5.2 | 14.0 57.2 245 11 6 9.5 5.2
10000 19.0 66.2 240 9 5 8.6 4.7 | 19.5 67.1 265 9 5 9.0 4.9
9000 21.9 71.4 245 8 4 9.8 5.4 | 22.3 72.1 275 8 4 9.8 5.4
8000 24.6 76.3 250 8 4 9.4 5.1 | 25.0 77.0 290 7 4 8.8 4.8
7000 27.5 81.5 265 7 4 10.0 5.5 | 27.8 82.0 305 7 4 9.1 5.0
6000 30.4 86.7 275 7 4 10.1 5.6 | 30.5 86.9 315 7 4 10.5 5.8
5000 36.3 97.3 295 7 4 88.3 48.4 | 35.2 95.4 325 6 3 52.7 28.9
________________________________________________________________________________
This product is issued once per day by approximately 0600 MST/0700 MDT
(1300 UTC). This product is not continuously monitored nor updated after
the initial issuance.
The information contained herein is based on the 1200 UTC rawinsonde observation
at the Salt Lake City, Utah International Airport and/or numerical weather
prediction model data representative of the airport. These data may not be
representative of other areas along the Wasatch Front. Erroneous data such as
these should not be used.
The content and format of this report as well as the issuance times are subject
to change without prior notice.
042025