Soaring Guidance
Issued by NWS Salt Lake City, UT
Issued by NWS Salt Lake City, UT
603
UXUS97 KSLC 181228
SRGSLC
Soaring Forecast
National Weather Service Salt Lake City, Utah
628 AM MDT Friday, September 18, 2026
This forecast is for Friday, September 18, 2026:
If the trigger temperature of 65.6 F/18.7 C is reached...then
Thermal Soaring Index....................... Good
Maximum rate of lift........................ 708 ft/min (3.6 m/s)
Maximum height of thermals.................. 15529 ft MSL (10603 ft AGL)
Forecast maximum temperature................... 75.0 F/24.3 C
Time of trigger temperature.................... 0945 MDT
Time of overdevelopment........................ None
Middle/high clouds during soaring window....... Broken/overcast opaque middle
Surface winds during soaring window............ 20 mph or less
Height of the -3 thermal index................. 11111 ft MSL (6185 ft AGL)
Thermal soaring outlook for Saturday 09/19..... Fair
Wave Soaring Index............................. Not available
Remarks...
Sunrise/Sunset.................... 07:11:49 / 19:31:56 MDT
Total possible sunshine........... 12 hr 20 min 6 sec (740 min 6 sec)
Altitude of sun at 13:21:53 MDT... 50.55 degrees
Upper air data from rawinsonde observation taken on 09/18/2026 at 0600 MDT
Freezing level.................. 12056 ft MSL (7130 ft AGL)
Convective condensation level... 9931 ft MSL (5005 ft AGL)
Lifted condensation level....... 11656 ft MSL (6730 ft AGL)
Lifted index.................... -6.1
K index......................... +25.8
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 -27.1 -16.8 245 40 20 2.2 1.2 38.5 101.2 11.5 M M
24000 -25.5 -13.9 245 34 18 6.1 3.3 33.3 91.9 7.6 M M
22000 -22.1 -7.8 245 32 17 5.8 3.2 30.3 86.6 5.3 M M
20000 -17.9 -0.2 240 31 16 6.5 3.6 27.5 81.6 3.0 M M
18000 -13.9 7.0 240 31 16 6.8 3.8 25.5 77.9 1.2 M M
16000 -9.1 15.6 240 31 16 8.6 4.7 24.5 76.1 0.2 M M
14000 -4.4 24.1 245 24 12 7.2 3.9 23.5 74.2 -0.9 755 3.8
12000 0.0 32.0 240 13 7 8.0 4.4 22.1 71.7 -2.4 563 2.9
10000 4.5 40.1 265 7 3 6.8 3.8 20.8 69.4 -3.8 371 1.9
9000 6.4 43.5 290 7 3 6.5 3.6 19.9 67.9 -4.8 283 1.4
8000 8.1 46.6 300 7 4 6.6 3.6 18.9 66.0 -6.1 202 1.0
7000 10.4 50.7 300 7 4 5.5 3.0 17.7 63.8 -7.5 98 0.5
6000 12.0 53.6 300 5 3 5.9 3.2 16.5 61.6 -8.9 20 0.1
5000 13.0 55.4 280 3 1 -17.1 -9.4 14.7 58.4 -10.9 M M
* * * * * * Numerical weather prediction model forecast data valid * * * * * *
09/18/2026 at 0900 MDT | 09/18/2026 at 1200 MDT
|
CAPE... +797.1 LI... -3.3 | CAPE... +1057.3 LI... -4.5
CINH... -52.8 K Index... +31.7 | CINH... -1.2 K Index... +31.5
|
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 -26.1 -15.0 200 41 21 7.2 4.0 | -26.5 -15.7 200 48 25 6.9 3.8
24000 -21.8 -7.2 200 40 21 7.2 4.0 | -22.4 -8.3 200 46 24 6.9 3.8
22000 -17.5 0.5 205 36 19 7.4 4.0 | -18.4 -1.1 205 43 22 6.9 3.8
20000 -12.9 8.8 210 34 18 7.0 3.8 | -13.5 7.7 205 39 20 7.3 4.0
18000 -9.0 15.8 210 33 17 6.5 3.6 | -9.0 15.8 205 37 19 7.7 4.2
16000 -5.3 22.5 210 30 16 6.5 3.5 | -5.0 23.0 205 34 17 6.4 3.5
14000 -1.2 29.8 210 27 14 7.4 4.1 | -1.0 30.2 205 29 15 7.3 4.0
12000 3.3 37.9 210 22 11 8.6 4.7 | 3.2 37.8 205 24 12 7.8 4.3
10000 8.2 46.8 205 21 11 8.0 4.4 | 7.8 46.0 200 21 11 8.9 4.9
9000 10.7 51.3 205 21 11 8.3 4.5 | 10.3 50.5 200 19 10 9.5 5.2
8000 13.0 55.4 195 20 10 8.0 4.4 | 12.8 55.0 195 18 9 9.3 5.1
7000 15.1 59.2 185 19 10 6.6 3.6 | 15.4 59.7 190 17 9 9.6 5.3
6000 16.8 62.2 170 17 9 6.0 3.3 | 17.9 64.2 185 15 8 11.1 6.1
5000 18.3 64.9 155 13 7 8.8 4.8 | 20.7 69.3 185 13 7 13.8 7.6
09/18/2026 at 1500 MDT | 09/18/2026 at 1800 MDT
|
CAPE... +977.7 LI... -4.1 | CAPE... +959.3 LI... -4.6
CINH... -2.1 K Index... +32.8 | CINH... -63.4 K Index... +32.5
|
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 -27.0 -16.6 210 53 27 6.9 3.8 | -26.8 -16.2 210 47 24 7.0 3.9
24000 -22.9 -9.2 210 49 25 7.0 3.9 | -22.6 -8.7 210 45 23 7.1 3.9
22000 -18.7 -1.7 210 45 23 7.0 3.9 | -18.5 -1.3 210 43 22 7.1 3.9
20000 -13.5 7.7 205 41 21 8.1 4.4 | -13.8 7.2 210 40 21 7.2 4.0
18000 -9.6 14.7 205 37 19 6.0 3.3 | -9.6 14.7 210 38 19 7.1 3.9
16000 -5.7 21.7 205 33 17 7.7 4.2 | -5.6 21.9 215 36 19 7.4 4.1
14000 -1.1 30.0 205 29 15 8.3 4.6 | -1.1 30.0 215 33 17 8.4 4.6
12000 3.8 38.8 205 25 13 8.5 4.7 | 3.7 38.7 215 28 14 8.8 4.8
10000 8.8 47.8 200 21 11 8.6 4.7 | 8.6 47.5 215 22 11 5.3 2.9
9000 11.5 52.7 200 21 11 9.3 5.1 | 10.9 51.6 220 17 9 6.5 3.5
8000 14.3 57.7 195 19 10 9.4 5.1 | 12.9 55.2 230 12 6 7.7 4.2
7000 17.1 62.8 195 19 10 9.6 5.3 | 15.0 59.0 245 8 4 7.3 4.0
6000 19.9 67.8 195 17 9 11.0 6.0 | 16.9 62.4 285 5 3 6.8 3.7
5000 22.8 73.0 195 14 7 12.3 6.7 | 20.0 68.0 315 3 1 28.3 15.5
________________________________________________________________________________
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