[Nyerges has been teaching outdoor skills since
1974. He is the author of many books,
including “Testing Your Outdoor Survival Skills,” “How to Survive Anywhere,”
“Enter the Forest,” and others. Information about his books and classes can be
seen at www.SchoolofSelf-Reliance.com.]
Aside
from consulting with newspapers, the weather service, and such online services
as Weather Underground, you should learn to make your own weather observations,
and learn to interpret what you see. If
nothing else, this helps to increase your awareness of the environment and
keeps you alert.
Birds
perch more and fly lower before a storm because the low-pressure air makes it
harder to fly.
A
barometer – either store-bought or home-made – is a good tool for determining
if there will be clear days or rain ahead.
A rising barometer indicates decreasing air pressure and clear weather,
while a rapidly falling barometer sometimes forecasts rain, snow, or other stormy
weather.
Though
you might have a barometer on your wall at home, most people do not carry a
barometer with them into the wilderness areas.
However, many people do carry altimeters (sometimes built into their
wrist watches), and these are essentially barometers. First, you need to know where you are on your map, and your altimeter needs to be
accurate. Then, over the course of a day
or so, if our altimeter shows a higher elevation than is accurate, it means the
pressure is falling and this could indicate that a storm is coming. If the altimeter shows a lower elevation
than what the map indicates, then the pressure is rising and you have a general
indication of clear or clearing weather.
The
key here is an accurate altimeter, and your observation of a change in the
altimeter while you were at the same location.
Dew
on the grass at night or early morning can be a sign of fair weather, and dry
morning grass can foretell rain or an overcast day. However, in some areas where it is very dry, you may not get
morning dew even though the day will be
clear.
The
presence of a red sunrise or sunset is also a good general indicator of the
weather to follow. A red sunset
generally indicates fair weather, and a red sunrise may foretell rain within 48
hours. A simple rhyme makes it easy to
remember: “Red sky at night, sailors
delight; red sky in morning, sailors take warning.”
Learning
to read the clouds can be another skill for short-term weather forecasting.
For
example, cumulus clouds are the puffy, flat-based, cauliflower-like clouds
which are constantly changing. They mean fair weather followed by clear nights.
However, if they begin to stack up into cumulonimbus clouds, that means rain or
snow is on the way.
Cumulonimbus
clouds result from strong vertical air currents. These are the most familiar thunderheads, with winds often
molding the tops into an anvil form.
Their based may almost touch the ground in the mountains, and violent
updrafts can carry the tops to 75,000 feet.
In their most violent form, they can produce tornadoes. Usually a sign of approaching storms, these
cumulonimbus clouds will drop rain or snow, and sometimes hail.
There
are many other natural signs which will tell you about upcoming weather
systems. Most of these signs are fairly logical once you understand the
mechanisms at work. One of the best
books on this subject is Eric Sloane’s illustrated “Weather Book.” Sloane gives
the reader a basic understanding of the principles which control weather, and
his beautiful drawings make the subject easy to grasp.
I
have also learned a lot from Ellsworth Jaegar’s “Wildwood Wisdom” and from the
weather section of most Boy Scout manuals.
Observing
short-term weather signs is a good way to increase your awareness. When
planning your trips, take advantage of all the modern resources.
Once
while discussing weather with meteorologist Dr. George Fischbeck, well-known to
Southern California TV audiences, he told me that he is very suspect of the
long-term weather projections of a week to 10 days. “Weather is a very dynamic
thing,” he told me. “No one can accurately predict the weather beyond more than
48 hours.”
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How to determine weather conditions by observing a rope
that was hung from a tree limb:
|
If
the rope is:
|
The
weather condition is:
|
|
MOVING
|
Windy
|
|
STILL
|
Calm
|
|
INVISIBLE
|
Foggy
|
|
WET
|
Rainy
|
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DRY
|
Sunny
|
|
GONE
|
Hurricane
|
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