Re: Sierra weather in the fall

For you guys that go to the Sierra all year long, how do you get the best weather picture three or four days in advance and especially from hundreds of miles away?

We are heading up week after next for a quick weekend in the high country. We will be prepared for most weather and would love to get the best idea before we set off.

Thanks!

The only one I look at is

intellicast.com

type in Yosemite National Park and good to go
clicky on detailed extended forecast...

Look day before going in fall and winta and early spring

(note: it hasn't let me down yet) (although if it says 30% ... then be prepared for rain)
(and for snow after Oct. 1)

Now.... gets ready for the weather.com and other posts.

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The National Weather Serivce (weather.gov) has 'point forecasts' - you can click on a specific location and get a 'grid' forecast, about 1 or 2 km square (so the altitudes might be approximated in areas of extreme topography, watch that...).

For example, here's Tuolumne Meadows: Tuolumne Meadows Forecast. That topo map in the middle-right is draggable and clickable - assuming you're on a desktop it works great. It's possible but painful to get it to work on an iPad.

3 or 4 days out...there may or may not be some uncertainty. So...lower left of the page, note the Forecast Discussion link - it brings up the technical discussion, from which you might get a sense of how uncertain the forecast is, and what the range of that uncertainty is (e.g.: 30% chance of rain could mean a high likelihood of scattered showers covering 30% of the area, or it could mean a 30% chance of a widespread dump and 70% of sun). Hanford Weather Office Forecast Discussion.

http://www.wrh.noaa.gov/mtr/forecast.php

Read the AFD (area forecast discussions) for Hanford, Sacramento, Reno. Then under each look at the Zone forecasts for specific Sierra regions.

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http://www.davidsenesac.com

For weather on the east side along highway 395 (Mammoth, Bishop and Indepence or even Tuolomne Meadows) I like Dennis Mattinson's forecast. It can be found at http://395travel.com/ .

Thanks!! These are great.I will be studying these heavily for the next ten days until my next trip.

Try this one too.

http://mammothweather.com/