accurate weather websites

[pierceadams]

just wondering what you all use. been checking out accuweather, anything better, more along the lines of mountaineering related?

Thanks,

Pierce

Edited June 24, 2008 by pierceadams

[bcrider]

http://www.atmos.washington.edu/weather.html

 

uw's site is money

[Tokogirl]

This is the website I use for very current and historical data. It is hooked up to most of the weather stations. Good example is Dirty Face or Tumwater Mtn.. You can also go to other regions and into Canada.

http://www.met.utah.edu/droman/states/WA_state_frame.html

[Tod]

Go to the source. Most weather reports come from the same place, NOAA. Even UW's weather reports has the header of NOAA (National Weather Service).

 

They also have excellent maps that let you select pinpoint locations and altitudes for your weather report (along with the usual weather discussions and satelite animations).

 

National Weather Service, Seattle: http://www.wrh.noaa.gov/sew/

National Weather Service, USA: http://www.weather.gov

[Sherri]

climbingweather.com

 

Fun to see the "where you should be climbing today" cover page. And you can search for weather based on distance from your location(if you want to see where the best climbing weather is within a certain driving distance.)

[JosephH]

NW Weather Resources Post

[AlpineK]

Go to the source. Most weather reports come from the same place, NOAA. Even UW's weather reports has the header of NOAA (National Weather Service).

 

Why not talk to Cliff Mass He'll tell you everything you need to know about the weather. One of the things he'll tell you is NOAA is the source information for everybody including the UW. Did I mention he works at the UW.

 

I saw him give a talk on the 2006 winter storm effect on tree failure. He's an interesting guy.

[JosephH]

Presentation, organization, and interpretation count. If I were an alpine climber I'd be seriously glued to the Intellicast Pacific Infrared sat loop and jetstream pages and StormSurf's short and and long range Pacific storm forecasts.

[mattp]

Cliff Mass is an interesting guy and I always enjoy hearing him on the radio but he comes up with some BS once in a while - such as when he spoke for ten minutes about how "wet cold" has no more cooling effect than "dry cold." He said if you put a human in a room with damp air as opposed to dry air, at the same temperature, they will become hypothermic no faster. However, he totally ignored the fact that even if this is true the dampness from perspiration will remain in your clothing longer in "wet coldness" - probably only one of a couple of reasons all of us know that humidity DOES have significant impact on our ability to stay warm. Jeff Rennar wouldn't have made the same mistake.

 

Intellicast weather radar loop is a good resource, but not always accurate. I'm not sure how or exactly what it measures but it can miss significant snow or rainfall.

[JosephH]

I don't believe looking for current NW precipitation on the ground is a particularly good use for Intellicast's Pacific Infrared Sat loop. I use it in combination with the Jetstream page and the StormSurf forecasts to figure out when major changes to NW weather are going to take place and to track major storms as they move across the Pacific.

 

In general, if the Jetsteam is on close to being parked on top of the NW, the sat loop shows four major storms lined-up all the way to Japan, and StormSurf says they'll stay strong to landfall then the next few days to a week might not be the best choice for hard / long / remote alpine activities.

 

There are lots of sources for good forecasts of short-term local NW precip and conditions, but playing with those larger storms / systems coming ashore which are closely tracked and reasonably predictable just seems to me like unnecessary gambling.

[mattp]

I use the weather radar loop to see where it has been raining - an area I may wish to avoid when cragging - or snowing - and area I may wish to favor when skiing.