Rich wrote; >Has anyone had personal experience using a barometer (while on extended >paddling trips) to get a clue as to approaching fronts, changes in weather, >etc? Would appreciate recommendations as to types and models, and >experiences you have had using one. I have used a barometer on trips for many years and find it useful. However, the further one goes north the less useful they become as the pressure variations do not seem as great and the fronts move so rapidly (just my observation - have not had this confirmed anywhere). I have experienced huge changes in conditions without huge changes in the barometer readings. I use an Airguide fishing barometer these days. Cheap and has stood up well this past year. Used to use a Casio wrist model. Much more expensive but worked fine. To get any value out of the barometer one needs to track the changes in pressure (rate of change as well as magnitude) and other conditions such as wind directioin and cloud types and development. On its own, the barometer doesn't tell all you need to know for forecasting. >Just returned from a 5 week paddle-trip on the Canadian tundra, and often >found a walm calm day followed by an fast moving storm in the morning. This >made planning a bit tough...we just paddled when fair, hiked when not. My experiences in Labrador, Baffin Island, and Hudson's Bay parallel yours. Nothing boring about the weather up there! Canadian weather forecasts seem as reliable as anyone elses. Wind speeds reported depend upon the location of the monitoring station. Allan Watts wrote a good chapter on heavy weather forecasting in "Heavy Weather Sailing" by Adlard Coles. He provides factors for adjusting reported winds at sea when reports come from coastal stations. I suppose you could reverse the process for offshore stations. Watts says (of British reports)," Only comparatively few anemometers whose readings appear on the charts are therefore representative of the offshore wind." I suspect that applies to most areas and reports. Local conditions modify winds considerably so one should not get puckered up if a weather station reports one speed and you experience something else. I have traveled with a retired Canadian meteorologist and he seemed honest. Can't imagine them boosting reports just to scare people. On the other hand, I suppose Canadian meteorologists could lie just as easily as American politicians. ;-) Here on the Great Lakes the sea state reports come from monitors both on shore and mid lake. One has to listen carefully whether the report comes from the on shore station or the midlake station. In Labrador the wind in one bay might not even raise whitecaps and in the next the wind would blow spume horizontally. One never knew what to expect when rounding a point. I suspect that these land effects diminish offshore but we never tested the theory. The next stop East was Portugal and we did not have our passports. :-) Cheers, John Winters Redwing Designs Web site address, http://home.ican.net/~735769 *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************Received on Sun Aug 29 1999 - 07:51:07 PDT
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