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Mountain Weather

Mountain Weather and especially Northwest Mountain Weather, can be extremely complex, difficult to predict, and highly variable both in space and time. Significant changes in weather parameters (clouds, temperature, winds, and type and rate of precipitation) often occur very rapidly and within very short distances (meso-scale or micro-scale), as both experience and automated weather stations suggest. These variations can have major impacts on a wide range of human activities, including recreation, transportation, and work. As a result, it is very worthwhile to expand your knowledge of mountain weather to prepare for such changes, help understand the changes, recognize them when they occur. The following preliminary and partial list of weather and mountain weather resources (both free and fee-based) should help facilitate this learning process.

Weather or Mountain Weather Resources On-line

  • Mountain Weather--the site developed by meteorologist Jim Woodmencey offers a wealth of information about mountain weather, including forecasts, satellite and radar, surface and upper air maps, computer models and many weather links...along with several help sections to aid in map and forecast interpretation.

  • Washington Online Weather (WOWWeather) - Mountain weather forecasts for the Washington Cascades and Olympics delivered via email twice a week.  Also provide custom mountain forecasts for every major climbing venue on a worldwide basis.

  • Introduction to Meteorology--this self-paced for fee on line course offers a non-technical introduction to the basic concepts of meteorology.

  • Meteorology Guide--this site from the University of Illinois offers web-based instructional modules utilizing multimedia technology and the dynamic capabilities of the web

  • Aviation Weather Tutorial--NASA developed this site to introduce users to the weather effects that affect flight. The weather module is just one of many modules that focus on the "Virtual Skies", including navigation, ari traffic management, aviation research, and communications.

  • The American Meteorological Society's DataStreme Atmosphere Program web site offers links to both current weather maps and images as well as educational pages and downloadable pdfs that describe weather map symbols, cloud types and more.

  • The NWAC's Avalanche Weather Briefer module provides easy links to and explanations of a variety of weather charts that can help in understanding daily forecasts issued by the Center. The NWAC Weather Glosssary  can also aid in this understanding.

  • The National Weather Service's Storm Prediction Center has an "experimental" page that contains an abundance of easily configurable Java script loops of weather parameters, including upper air soundings, Short-Range Ensemble Forecast (SREF) maps, charts of all watches and warnings in effect for the US and more.

Other Mountain Weather Data Sources:

  • Current and Recent NWAC Weather Data Graphs

  • Raw Weather Data and Select Forecast File Access - Access text versions of all mountain weather telemetry files and summary avalanche forecast files - ie. SABWA and SABOR. (These files should be essentially unchanged from previous versions of the same file name on the old web site...e.g. to access the weather station file for Snoqualmie Pass, enter http://www.nwac.us/data/OSOSNO). Note that as of late October, access to the summary avalanche forecast files on this link is a work in progress, but should be operational early in the season.

 

 

 


Page generated on Fri, 12 Mar 2010 15:26:05 -0800