Knowing the expected weather is one of the primary safety rules of woodsmanship.
Last week was the end of deer season in some California Zones, and on the downhill side of the season in others. I stopped at a restaurant and picked up a Bay Area newspaper because the local papers are delivered to my home. I like to keep track of the other guy(s). The big news was the search and rescues of a number of hiking parties in the Central Sierra Nevada Mountains. The majority of those rescued are from the Bay Area. I was glad to note that none of those needing rescue were listed as hunters. But I recall in the past when sudden October snows required the rescue of hunters in Idaho, Utah, and Colorado.
The mid October storm dropped
3-times the normal amount of moisture on California. In general the amount of moisture dropped in a storm progressively increases with altitude. A storm that drops one inch of rain in the valley will drop two to three inches at 5000 feet and the amount increases as altitude goes up. The backside of the Sierra's normally will receive less moisture. The result are the deserts of NV, and UT. As a general rule one inch of rain will create ten inches of snow at high elevation.
At the same time as the hikers were getting set for their trip into the Sierra's I was getting ready for a trip into the Salmon-Trinity Mountains of Northern California. The weather was pleasant, and a T-Shirt was my comfort zone. I packed a scanner, my FRS/GMRS/NOAA radios, and a cb with WX channels. In turn I went and checked the new National Weather Service website at <
http://www.wrh.noaa.gov > . I clicked on the map labeled Current Watches/Warnings, I then clicked on to general area I panned on setting up camp. This provided me with a forecast for the 6000 foot elevation. I noted there was a storm warning and a prediction for snow above 5500 feet and dropping to 5000 feet. I realized this was five days out. I printed the weather information for my hunting partners. I also started following the forecast issued on the NOAA WEATHER RADIO.(WX) Weather is a dynamic ever-changing element.
When I arrived at the planned campsite, the N0AA broadcast was a Storm Warning. The storm was coming in early. The sky was clear, but the wind was picking up. I called a hunting partner who was going to pull a trailer up the old logging road the next day. I passed on the weather report and we decided to camp at a lower elevation and closer to pavement. At the new site I put up my tent in nice weather, but I cold feel the wind out of the North. As the storm developed the forecast coming over the WX radio got worse. The snow level was dropping and winds were forecast in the 20-35 mph range. I could handle that.
During the night there were heavy down pours and gusty winds all night. I was comfortable because I was prepared for it. The next mornings forecast brought the prediction of the storm lasting longer then originally predicted, and fifty mile per hour winds. visiability had dropped down to less then one hundred feet at times. I was slow in making the decision to break camp. I think that is a common fault. I did not want to give into the storm. But I felt the 20-penny spikes that I drove into the once hard ground with a large hammer would no longer hold my tent. The WX radio kept forecasting a more intense storm, and a storm lasting much longer.
I brushed the snow off my tarps, and tent. It was time to head for a real heater, and a dry roof. I would have to burn more of that $2.59 gas to do my hunting.
A radio that will recieve NOAA WEATHER CHANNELS is a very important safety option. I have used mine from the Pacific to the Rockies. A mountain top thunderstorm can be as deadly in July as a winter storm.
