Contest Area

General Information

Narromine is located on the Western Plains of NSW in Australia due West of the Great Dividing Range, 38 kilometres (20-minutes by road) from the major inland city of Dubbo.

 

The country is mainly farmland, flat with small hills to the North and East. The topography and soil structure provides excellent thermals, often to over 10,000ft agl.

 

Narromine was the venue for the 2015 Junior World Championship, which was very successful, flying on 10 out of a possible 11 contest days.

Meteorology

The Narromine region is located in an area that is largely influenced by hot dry climatic conditions.

During the summer, high pressure areas over central Australia regularly move dry and warm air into the contest area. Such conditions usually start with good Cu-Thermals in the first days and blue thermals up to 10,000ft or more in the days thereafter. Common cloud bases are around 8,000ft to 10,000ft AGL.

 

The topography within 3 kilometres of Narromine contains only modest variations in elevation, with a maximum elevation change of 32 metres and an average elevation above sea level of 240 metres. Within 16 kilometres contains only modest variations in elevation (205 metres). Within 80 kilometres contains significant variations in elevation (591 metres).

 

The area within 3 kilometres of Narromine is covered by cropland (44%), sparse vegetation (26%), artificial surfaces (20%), and trees (11%), within 16 kilometres by cropland (67%) and sparse vegetation (25%), and within 80 kilometres by cropland (56%) and sparse vegetation (31%).

 

The length of the day in Narromine varies significantly over the course of the year. In 2022, the shortest day is 21 June, with 10 hours, 2 minutes of daylight; the longest day is 22 December, with 14 hours, 16 minutes of daylight.