Weather & Cloud Identification
One of the most important things you need to know before you set out on your camping trip is the weather forecast. A five-day forecast for any area in the US is available on the National Weather Service website. Knowing the climate of the area you will be camping in will help you to pack the appropriate gear, which can mean the difference between a good trip and a miserable trip. Is the area subject to sudden cloudbursts, extreme cold, high winds, extreme heat, flash flooding? These are important questions to answer before you finish packing for your camping adventure.
In addition to checking the weather forecast before you leave, you can keep an eye on the sky to monitor any changes in the weather while you are camping. Observing signs, such as cloud formations, wind direction, temperature, barometric pressure, and insect and bird behavior, can help you prepare for changes in the weather. Most violent storms occur when two opposing air masses meet; cold air moves into a warm air mass, and the two do not mix. There is not much warning of this type of storm. Storms that occur when warm air moves into a cold air mass can be predicted much sooner and the resulting storms last longer than storms that develop from cold air moving into warm air.
Cloud formation is a good predictor of changes in the weather. The names of clouds come from Latin words that describe what the cloud looks like from the ground. The various types of cloud formations are:
Cirrus high wispy clouds (from the Latin word for curl of hair)
Stratus sheet like clouds (from the Latin word for layer)
Cumulus puffy, billowing clouds (from the Latin word for heap)
Nimbus rain producing clouds (from the Latin word for rain)
There are also four basic types of clouds, based upon their height above the ground. High clouds with bases above 20,000 ft. or 6,000 m are thin and are composed of ice crystals. Middle clouds are found between 6,500 ft. and 20,000 ft. or 2,000 m and 6,000 m above ground. These clouds consist of water droplets and ice crystals. Low clouds are composed of water droplets, and have bases below 6,500 ft, or 2,000 m. Clouds of vertical development are below 6,500 ft., or 2,000 m and can extend high into the troposphere, and are much taller than they are wide.
The four basic types of clouds and the four types of cloud formations are further categorized into the following ten principal cloud types:
High Clouds
Cirrus thin and wispy
Cirrostratus thin and sheet like
Cirrocumulus small, white, fluffy
Middle Clouds
Altostratus gray and sheet like
Altocumulus gray and fluffy, look like fish fillet
Low Clouds
Stratus low, gray, and sheet like
Nimbostratus sheet like and dark gray producing rain or snow
Stratocumulus low, dark, and lumpy
Clouds of Vertical Development
Cumulus small and fluffy
Cumulonimbus giant thunderstorm clouds can extend more than 50,000 ft. or 15,000 m above the ground.
We can identify a developing cold-front storm by the formation of altocumulus clouds or mackerel clouds, which look like a fish fillet. A warm front is preceded by the formation of cirrus clouds, also known as mares tails. These clouds are long, thin, and wispy, and if they develop and multiply very quickly, it is a good sign that it will rain of snow very soon, but usually after the development of stratus clouds that are dull and gray.
When warm air masses rise into the atmosphere, cumulus clouds develop. If the cumulus clouds separate, this is a sign of good weather. If they continue to develop vertically and multiply, there is a good chance that they will develop into a violent thundercloud.
Whiteouts are low clouds or fog so thick that you are barely able to see your hand at arms length. They can completely diminish visibility on a mountain trail in minutes, which makes it practically impossible to see trail markers or landmarks when you are hiking. Rapid developing rings of clouds in the mountain peaks above, is a good sign of an upcoming whiteout. The mountain peaks appear to have speared a cloud or clouds, and there are no other clouds in the sky. Very quickly, the speared clouds move down the mountain slopes and engulf the area. This can prove to be a very dangerous situation, and it is a good idea to build a shelter and wait for the whiteout to dissipate.
Wind is a good indicator of potential weather conditions, and the direction of the wind can help you predict what is in store. Fair weather is associated with winds that come from the north, northwest, and southwest, and winds from the east, northeast, or south are usually an indication of precipitation. Easterly winds quite often bring the worst of sever weather. One can usually expect that shifting winds mean that a storm is brewing.
A barometer, which measures atmospheric pressure, is a good way to predict changes in the weather. A rising barometer indicates good weather, while a falling barometer indicates bad weather. The faster the barometric pressure falls, the more severe the weather will be. If you do not have a barometer, there are other indicators you can monitor to determine barometric pressure. For instance, when smoke rises just a few feet from a fire and levels off, or sounds and echoes are more noticeable, barometric pressure is low, and precipitation can occur. On the other hand, if smoke rises and dissipates quickly, it is an indicator that of high barometric pressure, thus, good weather.
The sky has other indicators besides cloud formation that can give you insight into upcoming weather conditions. Coronas around the sun are small colored rings, red on the outside and blue on the inside. A decrease in the size of the rings indicates rain. A large white halo (much larger than a corona) around the sun or moon is an indication of rain or snow. A red sky at night indicates good weather, and a red sky in the morning indicates bad weather. White lightning is an indicator of an upcoming storm, red or yellow lightning does not indicate rain. A red moon is an indicator of upcoming rain, and a white moon indicates fair weather.
