Mostly Cloudy, Chance of Rain

[selkirk]

Mostly cloudy, Chance of Rain are the most annoying words an alpine climber can hear! If the weather bites at least you can make other plans, but that's just purgatory. We all know the weather is going to suck this weekend but how many of us are going to drive to the trailhead anyway!

gggrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

 

It's so

[John Frieh]

Where are you looking? NOAA is predicting high pressure to build starting sat....

[Dustin_B]

Mostly cloudy, Chance of Rain are the most annoying words an alpine climber can hear! If the weather bites at least you can make other plans, but that's just purgatory. We all know the weather is going to suck this weekend but how many of us are going to drive to the trailhead anyway!

gggrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

 

It's so

 

I've sat around the past two weekends because of "shitty" forecasts. I'll be damn if I'm making it three in a row. Regardless of the forecast this weekend, I will be at a trailhead or crag somewhere in the PNW.

[jja]

It's good enough for me. I think the saving grace this weekend is that the weather systems are more typical this time compared to last weekend - meaning the weather is from west to east - rather than the screwed up east side disturbances.

 

LEAVENWORTH...METHOW...WINTHROP

 

NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SPOKANE WA

400 AM PDT WED MAY 26 2004

 

.SYNOPSIS....SYNOPSIS...UNSETTLED WEATHER WILL REMAIN OVER THE AREA TODAY AND CONTINUE THROUGH MOST OF THE REMAINDER OF THE WORK WEEK... AS A SERIES OF COLD FRONTS MOVES FROM WEST TO EAST OFF THE PACIFIC OCEAN AND INTO THE INLAND NORTHWEST.

 

FRIDAY NIGHT...MOSTLY CLOUDY WITH A 30 PERCENT CHANCE OF RAIN AND MOUNTAIN SNOW SHOWERS. LOWS NEAR 40.

SATURDAY...PARTLY CLOUDY... HIGHS IN THE 60S

SATURDAY NIGHT AND SUNDAY...PARTLY CLOUDY WITH A 30 PERCENT CHANCE OF RAIN SHOWERS. LOWS IN THE LOWER 40S. HIGHS IN THE MID TO UPPER 60S.

SUNDAY NIGHT...MOSTLY CLOUDY WITH A 20 PERCENT CHANCE OF RAIN SHOWERS. LOWS IN THE LOWER 40S.

MEMORIAL DAY AND MONDAY NIGHT...PARTLY CLOUDY WITH A 30 PERCENT CHANCE OF RAIN SHOWERS. HIGHS IN THE MID TO UPPER 60S. LOWS IN THE LOWER 40S.

TUESDAY...MOSTLY CLOUDY WITH A 30 PERCENT CHANCE OF RAIN SHOWERS HIGHS IN THE MID 60S TO LOWER 70S.

[selkirk]

The national Weather Service site

http://www.wrh.noaa.gov/Seattle/

Has pretty much the same forcast for the Olympics, and Cascades all the way down to Rainer.

It may be more typical than the good weather in March/April, but it still translates to showers when you least want them. Someone hasn't been sacrificing their Roosters I think.

[cracked]

CALL THE WHAAAAMBULANCE!!!

 

That's the same forecast they've given for the past two weekends, and I had lots of fun on both.

[fenderfour]

I'm off to Eldorado. Where the rest of you going?

[JoshK]

CALL THE WHAAAAMBULANCE!!!

 

That's the same forecast they've given for the past two weekends, and I had lots of fun on both.

 

amen! The cascades are a big range. There is always someplace to climb. Also, what is the point of owning all that fancy ass goretex, expensive tents, etc. if you don't need them every once in a while? If it was always nice I'd sleep under the stars and never drag a raincoat out.

[JoshK]

I'm off to Eldorado. Where the rest of you going?

 

The chocolate glacier on GP looks sweet, but if the forecast doesn't improve I'll avoid a volcano.

[John Frieh]

Stuart weather permitting.

[murraysovereign]

I've learned that in the Spring, they always low-ball the forecast. Even if they think it's going to be OK, they hedge by adding in the chance of showers here or there, just to cover their asses. Given how volatile the systems can be this time of year, I don't blame them. But unless they're forecasting major storm systems, take their predictions with a grain of salt.

 

Also, rain in Vancouver does not necessarily mean rain in Squamish. Many of the weather systems that come off the Pacific get diverted westward up the Fraser Valley, and Howe Sound stays dry. So don't be so quick to assume that the weather where you live is representative of the weather where we live.

 

And for those of you who sat at home the last two weekends, while people were climbing all over Squamish, here's a tip:

 

Go to "www.squamishgear.com", go to the "weather", then click on "Staff Observations". That's where we tell the whole world what kind of day it actually is, and how it's been for the preceding few days. For instance, by 9 AM last Saturday, when many of you were crying in your beer about the lousy weather, we had posted information that things were drying out and looking pretty promising. And by 11 AM we had updated that to say that people were out climbing and things were looking good for the rest of the weekend.

 

Today's entry tells you that it rained last night, but that it looks like it'll be not a bad day. So far, that's holding true, in fact it's sunny out right now, despite the weather forecast calling for showers.

 

We try to get the day's information up first thing in the morning, depending on how busy we are. If there's been no update in a few days, it means there's been no significant change in the weather to report.

 

If you're not able to get on-line, 1-877-892-9092 will put you in touch with someone who can just look out the window and tell you what's happening outside. Bear in mind that not all staff members are climbers, so they may not be able to tell you if your chosen objective for the day is dry, but they'll be able to give you a general idea of how things are looking.

 

Give it a try - you may be surprised to discover how often we beat the forecast.

[Dustin_B]

CALL THE WHAAAAMBULANCE!!!

 

do you just sit around watching all the threads waiting for the perfect time to insert a "call the whaaaambulance" or ":insert beating dead horse graemlin here:" comment? It may have been funny the first one hundred times you did it, but now it just annoying.

 

Edited to add: include page tops in the above list; f*&king annoying.

Edited May 27, 2004 by Dustin_B

[olyclimber]

Here in Seattle the weather is very pleasant right now, if you are a fish.