Can You Skydive in the Rain?

Every time you look at the sky it draws you in. The beautiful blue expanse … the puffy white clouds that look soft enough to sleep on … the brightness that lifts your mood. You can’t help but want to fly. 

But today, those inviting white puffies are gray and heavy. The air is thick and you can’t even see the sun. This isn’t exactly the kind of sky you want to be in. 

Can you skydive in the rain? Technically, yes. Do you want to? Not really. Skydiving in the rain is uncomfortable, miserable, and can even be painful. Skydiving in bad weather just sounds like no fun. It even has the word bad in it (*sad face*).

Probably the most important question to ask is “is it safe to go skydiving in the rain?” Truthfully, not as safe as a bright sunny day. Good skydiving conditions are clear, warm, and dry. If you’re going to hurl yourself through the sky, don’t you want it to feel good and be beautiful? 

Here are the main reasons we don’t skydive in the rain (in case you’re still not convinced).

Rain Comes With Clouds

The FAA (Federal Aviation Administration) sets the rules for all air traffic, and that includes flying human bodies. There are very specific regulations regarding who and what can fly through clouds, mostly depending on navigational instruments. Anyone who has driven at night and forgotten to turn on their headlights knows that human eyes aren’t equipped with low-visibility navigation technology. So, yeah, automatic disqualification for clearance to fly through clouds. 

What happens if you skydive through a rain cloud? First of all, you can’t see past your arm’s reach; no bueno when you’re flying through the air at 120 mph. The air also becomes cool and humid. Any enclosed surface is likely to fog up, including goggles. Basically, you become blind as a bat without the benefit of echolocation. We like to see where we’re headed, thank you very much! A collision with anything at that speed would be bad news for everyone involved.

It Hurts!

Imagine flying through a thousand tiny pins with your face and neck skin completely exposed. Now you have an idea of what it feels like to skydive in the rain. Shudder. Why does it hurt? Since you are coming from above, you’re hitting the pointy end of the raindrops! 

Dad jokes aside, the reality is that you are moving A LOT faster than the water droplets in the air. You might not notice if there was only one or two of them, but falling through a rainshower’s worth of drops is enough to leave your skin red and stinging. 

According to NASA, raindrops fall at about 20 mph. That means you are moving ONE HUNDRED miles per hour faster than the water in the air. Being hit by anything at 100 mph is going to be unpleasant (to say the least), and hundreds of little water droplets is no exception. 

We want you to enjoy your skydive! Not be focused on trying to dodge tiny water missiles the whole time you’re falling. We’re going for more “ooooo” and less “ow ow ow.”

Making the Call

Even though skydivers appear to be a bunch of adrenaline junkies who live on the edge, we follow the rules when it comes to safety. Being responsible means we can jump over and over (and over) again, and that’s always the goal. Tossing the rules to the wind poses danger to ourselves and to others. We’re not about that life …

How do we decide what weather is bad for skydiving? Basically, anything that would cause unsafe conditions for flying or landing. This includes rain, too many clouds, and wind. If the weather will cause an unsafe jump or negatively impact your experience, it’s best for us to reschedule. 

Of course, that leaves some gray area. Can you skydive in drizzle? Sure you can, as long as you aren’t flying through any clouds. But knowing what you know now, we have a feeling you won’t want to. Can you skydive in a thunderstorm? Absolutely not. Lightning, wind, and heavy rain are all an undisputable no-go. 

Our instructors, management, and pilots are all experts at deciding where the line is between safe and unsafe. Believe us if we tell you that it’s not a good day to jump. As we always say, it’s better to be on the ground wishing you were in the air than in the air wishing you were on the ground. 

Rain Rain Go Away

Everyone knows that weather is unpredictable. Imagine if skydivers only had to be as precise as meteorologists! With that in mind, it’s ok to check the outlook for your big day in advance, but don’t get too hung up on the forecast. Sometimes we won’t know if it’s good to jump until the day of. 

You have enough to focus on the day of your skydive. You don’t need to add stressing about the forecast to that list! If you’re worried about the weather on the day of your jump, you can give us a call to double-check before you head to the dropzone. Be assured that we will call you if we need to reschedule. 

If the weather is iffy, plan to hang out while we reassess. It might just be that the skies aren’t cooperating right now and we might be able to get you up later in the day. Pack some snacks and water, and trust the process and our staff. We will make sure we get you into the safest and most enjoyable sky there is!

We can’t wait to share that clear blue sky with you! Book now!