About winDZaloft
About Me & SkyJunk
winDZaloft and SkyJunk are made by Tarek, a software engineer based in NYC, a skydiver at The Ranch, FAA certified Parachute Rigger and a skydiving gear maker working out of a home workshop.
I made my first jump at 15 years old in Egypt, and that early start sparked a lasting obsession with learning and mastering everything that makes skydiving possible, safer, and more fun: rigging and gear maintenance, flying and canopy skills, understanding weather, and making good decisions.
I’m still relatively new to the sport, but SkyJunk is forever. I enjoy sharing what I’ve learned so far to help promote the sport using accessible tools for safety (winDZaloft) and fun (SkyJunk). This project exists to make weather information more readable for skydivers at real dropzones on real jump days.
Follow for updates and new feature announcements:
What winDZaloft shows you
Aviation weather is written for pilots. winDZaloft takes the parts skydivers need and lays them out so you can read them quickly at the DZ.
- Winds aloft at the altitudes skydivers actually care about
- Surface wind and gust information
- Suggested jump run line of flight
- Freefall drift and exit-point planning help
- Weather context such as clouds, visibility, rain, radar, and alerts
It won't make the call for you. It just makes the weather easier to read.
Why I built it
Checking the weather before a jump usually means opening a winds aloft site, a METAR, a radar app, and the NWS forecast, then putting it all together in your head. I wanted one page that does that for the DZ I'm actually jumping at.
- Upper winds, surface wind, gusts, alerts, and radar together on one screen
- Every number labeled with where it came from, so you know what you're looking at
- Altitudes shown above the DZ, the way jumpers think, not above sea level
- Sensible defaults for a quick check, with manual controls when you want to dig in
- Jump run and drift worked out for you
Who this tool is built to help
Anyone who needs to know what the wind is doing at a dropzone:
- Students and new jumpers learning to read the weather
- Instructors and schools giving the daily weather brief
- DZ owners and manifest deciding when to put loads up
- Jump pilots setting up jump run
- Canopy pilots and CRW teams who care about the lower winds
- Demo and military jump teams
- Fun jumpers who want one tool instead of five