when i took meteorology i did reports of wind direction at several heights. i learned that wind moves horizontally in layers, that sometimes move in different directions, and therefore you may find your plane changing direction due to this. it is particularly more noticeable when flying gliders, that are trimmed for detecting subtle changes in the wind, be horizontal, or vertical. i have witnessed this frequently, and yesterday it was even more clear.
the wind at ground level was easterly, but when climbed to 100 meters (320 ft) the plane changed direction by wind blowing from the south. and i could see the clouds above moving from the west. my plane was no that high, but when came down to the 100 meters level, it fell into the ground level layer from the east and changed direction again.
it is what those who fly balloons use to change direction by climbing or descending depending of the direction of the wind in those layers.
fascinating matters of the air....

i have read about measuring sinking speed, but have not seen figures that can be measured sistematically so we can have some certainty.
perhaps some1 has a method and can bring data or links.
in the meantime, as i design and fly gliders and have a vario installed that tells me the height at glide every 20 feet, it occured to me to time when reaches the next figure. i tried this with 1 of my planes.
now was a matter of dividing feet by time. took several times and got an average of about 14 seconds, so this tells me that the average sinking speed of that particular plane is 1.43 ft/seconds. will keep doing this with all my planes. with this i will learn which 1 is more efficient by staying longer in the air. this way i can reach conclusions on whatever i change on my planes.
>>>sept 15: update: i finished taking readings, and also noticed that in some of my planes, even if fly slower, the sinking speed is higher, so i began to measure flying speed too with another instrument (named "how fast"-no longer available). and if climbed to certain height (100 meters, for instance) and then started timing the flight, i got all that i needed to learn which plane takes more to land. it is 1 of those things that even if easy, are tedious work, but eventually i got all. i started a forum trying to learn if some1 has done something like this, or an even better way, but so far nothing has shown.
so from now on, when i change something in my planes, i have the way to see if it was an improvement-or not. real data.

as i fly at dawn, sometimes i find fog, and just look around until it clears. and have noticed something that havent heard of. at certain moment, at the west, i notice a bow similar to the rainbow, about same size, but just white. it appears slowly, and some time after it vanishes. it is not very strong, but is easy to see.
it happens shortly after the sun begins to show through the fog.

i hope some1 brings any data or a link to it.

i think that we will never learn all about the weather, after all...

edit: just got a link. and is called fog bow. see: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fog_bow

the fountain of youth is a mythical dream that some have tried to discover. even Ponce de Leon searched for it at Florida.
still, there are ways to stretch life so it gets as close as possible to it.
like healthy food, excercise, positive attitude, not worrying, not doing things that may be dangerous or harmful...
and 1 of these is to have a hobby like ours, that keeps our mind busy. it also is creative, improves our reactions, we breath fresh air, so many positive things.
so, even if it is not the fountain of youth, is as close as it can be.
so, keep doing it.
(now you have an excuse to do it)

have you even wondered why something is as it is, or why whatever? most of us do. i am 1 of them. and now, with access to the internet, where we find the answer most of the time, there are way more chances to learn all about anything. i get into it countless times every day. no need to check the dictionary or go to the library or ask some1. we all have the oportunity to increase our knowledge exponentially.
wonders of modern times. so, after all, not everything is worse than before.