Weather prediction and monitoring tools

[Rad]

This is a critical issue for the Cascades in all seasons.

I stumbled on this site and have read reviews that it's the bomb. 

What's your favorite?

 

[JasonG]

UW , of course.

Go Dawgs!

But that site is cool @Rad.  Uses the Euro which is the global gold standard.  Still, 9km grid is pretty coarse.  The UW has 4km and less.

[Rad]

20 minutes ago, JasonG said:

UW , of course.

Go Dawgs!

But that site is cool @Rad.  Uses the Euro which is the global gold standard.  Still, 9km grid is pretty coarse.  The UW has 4km and less.

Dude, that's about as user friendly as punch cards for computers, or Devil's Club on a Cascades approach. Is there a GUI?

 

[JosephH]

Yeah, windy is a great addition...

 

Here are some resources which collectively make for a pretty good picture of what weather is headed towards the NW at any given point in time. Taken together they can give you a good feel for exactly what's out in the Pacific all the way to Asia. It's particularly worth noting the jetstream forecast to see how strong it's going to be, if it's going to be sitting right on top of us, and if it's likely to be dragging along any bad weather with it if it is.

 

Take note the 'Stormsurfing' site is for surfers, so you have to read through the surfing/wave aspects of what they put out - BUT - these folks carefully watch weather events across the NW Pacific as far out as Siberia and it is well worth paying close attention to what they are saying about incoming storms.

 

Intellicast Pacific Infrared Sat Loop

 

Intellicast - US Jetstream

 

StormSurf - Pacific Storm Forecast

 

StormSurf - North Pacific Surface Pressure and Wind

 

StormSurf - North Pacific Jet Stream Wind and 250 mb Pressure

Edited May 10, 2018 by JosephH

[Rad]

@JosephH  wow! Thanks.

This past winter I learned about PowderBuoy, which is a Pacific Buoy NW of Kauai. It's been used by surfers for years, and Wasatch skiers learned that it's pretty good at predicting powder dumps 2 weeks in advance. Worked for me this year on a trip to Snowbird. 

[JasonG]

1 hour ago, Rad said:

Is there a GUI?

You see what you get.  I heard it was due to some of their grants or something that they couldn't make it very user friendly.  But, if you spend a bit of time with it, it really isn't THAT bad.  And I've not found anything that predicts timing of precip or clouds any better.  It also give you an indication of whether the clouds are going to be high or low and in your face.  24-48 hours out (farther out is just a guess for any of the models, skill degrades dramatically after a couple days) it is the best thing going for the Cascades since the underlying model was tweaked for our specific terrain by UW researchers. 

Look at the 4km or 1 1/3 km grids,  1 hour precip, and column Integrated cloud water loops.

Or use the flashy websites and bring a rain jacket.

[Rad]

Got my jacket

 

[JasonG]