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Watching the weather forecast

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I’ve been watching the weather forecast, hoping for wintermild temperatures and a favorable wind prediction for an Assateague Trip. The long range forecast looks to provide a tidally favored window sometime in the next week.

The favorable part of the wind prediction has shifted a full day in the past 24 hours of weather watching. I should start packing now to be ready in case the target keeps moving.

On catch-as-can trips I am fascinated by watching conditions change, whether it is checking gauges and rain forecasts in a watershed or looking ahead for kindly tide and wind predictions.

The only time I pay that kind of detailed attention to the forecasts, especially to the subtle changes in the long range predictions as fronts gain or lose power and move in or out, is when tripping and trip planning.

No question that such tripping attention has provided the bulk of my weather understanding. It’s hard to really understand weather unless you are out in it. And harder still to appreciate it.
 
Rain forecasts? I agree its hard to understand weather unless you are out in it. But on the flanks of Mt Washington today at minus 6, my appreciation of the power of nature was there. And to boot I was HOT...climbing is hard work..especially in snow.

Did I understand why the wind went from calm to 50 mph in one hour.even below treeline? No....Katabatic winds?

Sky watching is a worthwhile activity. On canoe trips it can lessen your anxiety when you have no radio signals available.
 
Had a little thaw going here in central WY for a few days and a mid-river channel opened up in the North Platte. Thought I'd take a nice 2-3 hour paddle just east of town.

Fortunately, I was smart enough to take out the little Old Town Pack as the approaching cold front arrived several hours early and froze me right in the middle of the river. The 33# boat felt more like 63# by time I humped it the 2.5 miles back to civilization. Snow isn't deep enough for 'shoes and playing hopscotch through the fallen tree areas was all kinds of fun :)

I'm ready for springtime in the Rockies!
 
Snowpack level of the Upper Colorado Basin is currently 77%. Still too early to predict with any accuracy but the region generally takes a goodly amount of pre-spring snow. I wouldn't count on a wild river this year though. Our snowpack is rather weird these days. The Big Horns have a good pack, the central WY region is way below the norm. Very spotty.

Having the river freeze up while paddling is always something I have to watch for during my little off-season forays. Water level is shallow in most places but numerous holes and channels. The real danger is, of course, having an accident and getting flushed under the ice. I wear a dry suit and carry equipment to facilitate getting off the ice safely; ropes, hooks, etc. The little Pack boat looks rather funny with snowshoes, 10' staff, ropes, grappling hooks and a big survival pack stuffed in along with the paddler. The wildlife I meet along the river this time of year just kind of shake their head as I pass by.... or as I trudge along pulling the boat looking for another open channel. Not everyone's cup o' tea but it keeps the winter boredom at bay :)
 
Holmes,

I do not have the stones to paddle with hooks and rope to keep me safe in a half froze river. I guess I would rather take my long bow and run the timber. Stay safe man.

Bob.
 
Watching the weather forecasts..seems like I will have 14 imprisoned boats and one suffocating under up to three feet of snow. Its ironic that the storm is named Nemo. I don't think anyone will have trouble finding it.
 
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