Goat Rocks Wilderness weather checking?

[xrp]

What source do you use for checking the weather forecast for Goat Rocks Wilderness?

I'm planning to go backpacking there in 3 weeks and have been using weather.com to check the weather and the forecast.

Are there any better sources? Sometimes weather.com uses the nearest city or town for the forecast. I'd be a bit upset if weather.com is using Randle or Packwood @ 1000-1200 feet when we'll be camping at 6,000 feet.

Thanks!

[-Q-]

I use NOAA for everything...

http://www.noaa.gov/

[retired jerry]

if you use this NOAA

you can pan around on that map and click to get a weather report for any location

it uses some model of weather that includes effects of elevation and stuff, but since it's a model it's only so accurate

[Koda]

I agree use NOAA

I use forecast.weather.gov where I can pan the topo map around zoom in and click on the exact spot I plan to visit. Weather.gov is the public weather website for NOAA which I think is where all the weather data comes from anyways. Regardless of whats the best source anything over 3 days out I take with a grain of salt…

Here is a noaa link for Goat Lake…
http://forecast.weather.gov/MapClick.ph ... 82qFvldWPY

[adamschneider]

I like using the entire huge list of NOAA/NWS zone forecasts:
http://www.nws.noaa.gov/view/prodsBySta ... dtype=zone
http://www.nws.noaa.gov/view/prodsBySta ... dtype=zone

Then I use my browser's "find on page" function to find the location I want. For Goat Rocks, search for "Randle" or "Packwood." Yeah, it's a weird way to do it, but I like getting the actual forecasts that a meteorologist put together instead of the interpolated model-driven ones. And I also like browsing through multiple zones at once.


Of course, you can also get the individual zone forecasts by using the "MapClick" page that Jerry and Koda posted, then look for "Zone Area Forecast for..." near the bottom of the page.

[xrp]

Thanks for the replies so far. My biggest concern is taking my MH Phantom 32 when the lows are projected to be, say, 50F when that report is for somewhere not in the wilderness at 6,000 feet and I might need my FF Lark UL 10 instead because the night temperature drops to 25F.

[Koda]

Thanks for the replies so far. My biggest concern is taking my MH Phantom 32 when the lows are projected to be, say, 50F when that report is for somewhere not in the wilderness at 6,000 feet and I might need my FF Lark UL 10 instead because the night temperature drops to 25F.

its a valid concern in summer especially at higher altitudes. It is for me anyways I get cold easy. Several summer backpacking trips have gone down to 25* too many times I usually take my 0deg bag on all but the hottest predictable weather. My baseweight is low enough now I don't worry about the extra ~1.5lb difference for a weekend adventure.

[xrp]

Thanks for the replies so far. My biggest concern is taking my MH Phantom 32 when the lows are projected to be, say, 50F when that report is for somewhere not in the wilderness at 6,000 feet and I might need my FF Lark UL 10 instead because the night temperature drops to 25F.

its a valid concern in summer especially at higher altitudes. It is for me anyways I get cold easy. Several summer backpacking trips have gone down to 25* too many times I usually take my 0deg bag on all but the hottest predictable weather. My baseweight is low enough now I don't worry about the extra ~1.5lb difference for a weekend adventure.

Well my base weight is right at 10lb and the FF Lark UL 10 is only 9.3 ounces more than the MH Phantom 32, so I can afford it for something as epic as this trip. However, the volume consumed by the FF Lark is so much more that my TNF Verto 26 (11 oz) backpack won't work anymore. I'll have to swap out to my Osprey Hornet 46 (24oz), so overall base weight gain of 22 ounces. I think it's worth it.

[Koda]

its true the warmer bag takes up more volume. I find when I start 'adding back' to my baseweight I have to be careful not to justify adding too many other luxuries. Its only a weekend adventure I say, might as well take the...

The benefits of UL gear give the options though. For the longer trips I've stuck to the plan.