5 June 2009
Tame The Wild Weather (Before It Strikes)
Posted by Terry under: safety; survival; weather .
Weather can literally strike—thunder, lightning, hail, rain, snow, sun or heat—in any one form, and often these blows from Mother Nature’s can cause serious trauma if you (as hiker or camper) are not ready. In fact, my friend was killed a few years back by lightning—lightning that was off in the distance; it was sunny where he was standing!
One of the best ways to predict bad weather is to keep an “eye to the sky” so to speak. The sky always foretells what is going to happen—it’s just up to you (and some timely luck) to determine how soon. Be ready for snow in June, hail in July, hundred degree temps in May and UV that burns in minutes. While I can’t teach you everything you need to know in one go, I can teach you some easy way to augur what weather is just over the horizon.
Those little white floaty clouds that drift by as you laze away on the hillside show more than dragons, horses, unicorns, flying machines or whatever else your imagination conjectures. Yes, they tell you what weather is on the way. Generally, you can always tell when a warm or cold front is moving in by the clouds in the sky.
Warm Front: May Be Wet But Not Wicked
Warm fronts move very slowly compared to cold fronts. A warm front is simply defined as warm air aggregates that push cooler bodies of air away. These sorts of fronts can bring some rain, but they rarely cause major problems for campers or hikers.
Clouds Under The Warm Front
Cirrus: If you’ve ever looked up in the sky and thought God had painted clouds with a huge brush, those are Cirrus clouds. They are feathery and can be ruffled.
Altostratus: This is that smoky and dense looking kinds of clouds that look like fog but often bring rain. They are not high in the sky, nor are they exactly on the ground.
Cirrocumulus: If you’ve ever looked up into the sky and saw a ring around the sun, almost like a nimbus of light, then you’ve seen cirrocumulus/cirrostratus clouds. These often have spaces of blue sky but are ridged like the bottom of cotton.
Cold Front: May Be Dry But Brings Witches
Cold fronts move very quickly, even though they are “cold” masses of air. Cold fronts are like a parasite, sneaking up on a victim before a bad sickness develops. If you’ve ever read a sailing novel, then you know something about barometric pressure. Once the “bottom falls out,” bad weather is inevitable. These fronts are the ones hikers and campers have to watch out for. When a cold front moves furtively, the weather can change without notice; the wind can start to blow and the malignity results.
Clouds Under the Cold Front
Cumulonimbus: If you’ve ever looked up and thought of cotton candy, then you’ve noticed cumulus clouds. Though not a miscreant by themselves, these babies tell you that rain may be likely later in the day. If not, at least you’ll have your rain gear out and ready. You’ll be lucky to just get rain, however. These bad boys often forecast worse weather. Often, these come in just as your afternoon is getting hotter and you’ve had a good day.
Cumulus: These are those clouds that are flat on bottom, puffy on top and scatter about, hovering like a thousands space ships from outer space. There is not any problem with these clouds, as long as they don’t turn into the abovementioned cumulonimbus type.
Caught When It’s Too Late
If it’s too late and a thunderstorm has brewed, then there are some things you can do. Don’t be one of the 300 injuries or over 60 deaths caused by lighting each year in the US alone.
- Even though your evolutionary instincts tell you to get close to that tall tree, stay away. Lighting hits the tallest object around.
- Don’t head for higher ground and get away from ridges.
- Lighting likes metal; don’t carry your hiking poles attached to your backpack like lightning rods.
- It’s best to have little ground contact, as lighting travels through the ground and can reach (and shock) you. Keep something between yourself and the ground. It’s best to stay on your feet, ducking down if necessary.
- Don’t huddle close together.
- Every five seconds, thunder (sound) travels one mile. Once you see lighting, count the seconds until you hear thunder to figure its distance. In 20 seconds, the lighting is four miles away, for instance (5 seconds = 1 mile; 10 seconds = 2 miles; 15 seconds = 3 miles and so forth). Once you time the weather, it is tamer.
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