Weather Forecasting In The Field

[DayTrip]

Can anyone recommend a good book or website for "amateur weather forecasting" in the field? Not looking to be lugging instruments, getting a masters degree in meteorology and getting all crazy scientific here. Talking more about stuff like reading the types of clouds and what they mean, using an altimeter or other device for pressure changes, and other similar "tricks" or "tells" to get better at forecasting conditions in the field when I'm in the woods.

If anyone can recommend books, websites or just has a good anecdote or rule of thumb I'd appreciate it.

 

[jniehof]

For background/science/whatever I have the 1957 edition of the Golden Guide to Weather which is surprisingly good. I'm no meteorologist, but I dug this stuff quite a bit as a kid, and that was a great balance of rigor and accessibility. This will also help you interpret the professional forecasts before going into the field so you know what the trend looks coming into the weekend.

For the nitty-gritty of learning in the field, the Falcon Basic Essentials Weather Forecasting is pretty good.

Obviously avy weather is another topic.

 

[weatherman]

That's a really tough one. Best strategy is to get a good briefing about what to expect before you head out, since "in the field" forecasting is really more about timing of what's expected than anything (other than micro-scale things like thunderstorms: "Oh boy, there's a dark cloud and it's heading for us!!"). The simple cloud and Falcon guide are as good as any, I think. In the field (woods), wind direction is often suspect unless you are above treeline; pressure changes due to elevation gain/loss are usually more than changes due to weather; so clouds and "feel" (humidity) are about all you have to go by, which isn't much.
I've used NWS website radar from time to time if I have a good 3G/4G cell on my phone and can get to the Web... I know that is blatant cheating though.

 

[DougPaul]

Basic forecasting isn't very difficult. Knowledge of a few things can get you a long way:
* local weather patterns
* current weather
* wind direction, speed, and trends
* cloud types and trends
* barometric trends if you have an altimeter

There is a short chapter in Freedom of the Hills on weather forecasting.

There is an online book by Dr John Papineau from the Anchorage NWS Forecast office which looks like it might have more detail:
Practical Mountain Weather: A Guide for Hikers, Climbers and Skiers
http://pafc.arh.noaa.gov/classroom/practical_mountain.php

You can find more by a Google search on "mountain weather": http://www.google.com/search?ie=ISO-8859-1&hl=en&source=hp&q=mountain+weather

I have a hardcopy book somewhere--I'll post the title if I can find it.

Doug