Winter Hiking Pics

 Massachusetts

and Appalachian Trail

New Hampshire

Mt Moosilauke

More New Hampshire

This is Mt Washington

Mt Garfield

Brrr, head up to Grand Canyon Glacier, northwest of Skagway, Alaska

Former home in Westfield Massachusetts

Westfield Dogbark

Miscellaneous Trails in Connecticut

California and Desolation Wilderness

Iceland and Solheimajokull Glacier

Remember, no bugs in the winter!

Weather along the Appalachian Trail?

Found this neat little page for that info...

Appalachian Trail Planner (sophiaknows.com)

For the southern AT, see these current station models.

to read this map, see this link.

Cricket

 I watched this Cricket game for a bit on Christmas day after taking Bubba-Doo for a walk in a local park.  I still don't understand the rules, but it was nice to see some folks enjoy the "spring like" weather.  Today, on the other hand is quite cold even though it is sunny for the dog walk.

The video had to be downgraded to upload from my cell phone so it is not that great.

Smart phones and Weather Forecasting

This morning, before I headed out for a hike, I checked my Weather Underground App to see what conditions I might experience (cool and warming but dry, at least until tonight).  Before I excited the App, I was asked if I wanted to contribute to the forecasting by allowing the App to record the local pressure.  Yes, not only does my phone record where I am, but can sense the atmospheric pressure!

I declined, but then wondered how much of my actions are already being recorded by location and actions.   hmmmm

Anyway, citizen based weather reporting is not a bad thing.  I even wrote about it back in 2005 in the paper titled "Emergency Preparedness and Tourism: Both Win with Help of the Amateur Meteorologist."  See this link for the paper.  The additional data provided by citizens makes for a better forecast.  Makes sense, right, after all, Denver's weather is not representative of the whole state.

Bristow, Robert S.; Leiker, Karl; DeBlois, Roland 2006. Emergency Preparedness and Tourism: Both Win with Help of the Amateur Meteorologist. In: Peden, John G.; Schuster, Rudy M., comps., eds. Proceedings of the 2005 northeastern recreation research symposium; 2005 April 10-12; Bolton Landing, NY. Gen. Tech. Rep. NE-341. Newtown Square, PA: U.S. Forest Service, Northeastern Research Station: 135-139.

Clear Weather good for Recreation?

Well yes and no.  No rain is certainly a good thing for outdoor recreation.  But clear skies this summer mean no rain and a drought.  Further it means HOT.

Loads of people are outside enjoying clear skies, getting sun burned and drinking lots of beers.   Like driving after midnight, toasted recreationists (pun intended) will hit the roads.

So today folks, enjoy the outside, drinks lots of water, protect against that harmful UV Radiation and stay cool....if you can find a cool spot.

Cold fronts bring cooler weather for recreation

So the US has been blistering hot this past week.  While not a record, Westfield, MA had 98 degrees F yesterday afternoon for a high!  Add to that high humidity and it is pretty uncomfortable.

So today, we are expected a cold front to pass through the area.  Notice the station model data from this report from the AMS Datastreme Project.

You can see winds are coming from the south for New England whereas in Canada, the winds are coming from the west since the cold front has already passed the area.

Cooler air (from the west and northwest) are coming to New England!

whew, crazy weather here in the Northeast

I waited until the day was over, but the forecast for yesterday was pretty extreme. We ended up just having a sunny but cold day. Snow came into the area this morning and now it has stopped. There is a break in the clouds (nimbostratus) and hopefully the winter mix (snow, rain, sleet) will stay to the south.

I better get out and do some more shoveling. And maybe some x-c skiing before it ices up.

Favorite Weather Sites

Just think how much the weather means to recreation. We want snow for x-c skiing, cold temps for ice skating, and of course warm sunny days for the beach.

What is your favorite weather site on the web?

www.wunderground.com (probably my all time favorite)
www.intellicast.com (this is really good for animated radar imagery)
www.weather.com (one of the original sites)

Do you have some favorites to share?