Re: [Paddlewise] Barometers - essential tool? not anymore

Hi Jed,

I own a few devices that can also serve as barometer, a Suunto Vector being
the latest, but I've never really used one to forecast the weather.

Nowadays we're spoiled by professional weather services, weather maps,
radar, satellite pictures, and much more. Just a "spot" measurement of
atmospheric pressure or of it's trend
does not tell us anymore than what we already know by other means.

However, in the past there were no weather services, at least none that made
their findings available to a broad public. In those days, any help in
forecasting the local weather was welcome to those people that needed to
know, and the "weather glass" was one of those.

You should also not forget that specific relations between behaviour of the
pressure and the weather is
dependent on the area, and also on the season. In my area (Western Europe) a
constant high is generally an indication of lasting good weather, especially
with easterly winds, while a
sudden drop indicates an oncoming low, which normally brings bad weather. If
I had no other means of telling, this might keep me from paddling, but
nowadays it's much more convenient to get a much more detailed forecast from
newspaper, television, radio or the web.

regards,

    Kees



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