It’s been a pretty long stretch of wind and snow in the Alaska Range for the last days, and it is expected to continue through most of the weekend. There is a light at the end of the tunnel, as the snow is expected to taper off and winds die down by late Sunday and Monday looks like it might be a pretty nice day! It’s a test of patience for many of the climbers who would rather be working hard and climbing a mountain than waiting for weather to clear, but that’s part of climbing big mountains. We’ve got several teams still waiting in Talkeetna hoping to fly in, others hoping to fly out, and still other teams waiting out the weather in camp.
Here’s the update from the National Weather Service forecast, just remember this is just a best guess forecast and forecasting weather in big mountain ranges is more difficult than weather forecasting at home. We joke that these forecasts are for “recreational use only”, but they do a good job of picking up big weather systems like the one we are under right now. The climbers best weather forecasting tool is still sticking their nose out of the tent and seeing what’s happening.
Here’s a link the the NWS Denali forecast if you’d like to follow along.
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SYNOPSIS... STRONG MOIST SOUTHEAST FLOW WILL CONTINUE THROUGH SATURDAY. A WEATHER FRONT WILL MOVE NORTH OF THE MOUNTAIN SATURDAY NIGHT. FLOW WILL TURN MORE TO THE WEST AND DECREASE LATE SUNDAY. ...7 THOUSAND FEET TO 14 THOUSAND FEET... ...WIND SPEEDS LESS THAN 20 MPH ARE NOT INCLUDED... .SATURDAY...SNOW. SNOW ACCUMULATION 12 TO 18 INCHES. HIGH AT 14 THOUSAND FEET...10 BELOW. .SATURDAY NIGHT...SNOW. SNOW ACCUMULATION 6 TO 12 INCHES. LOW AT 14 THOUSAND FEET...15 BELOW. .SUNDAY...SNOW. SNOW ACCUMULATION 6 TO 12 INCHES. HIGH AT 14 THOUSAND FEET...5 BELOW.
...ABOVE 14 THOUSAND FEET... .SATURDAY...SNOW. SNOW ACCUMULATION 12 TO 18 INCHES. HIGH AT 17 THOUSAND FEET...15 BELOW. WINDS FROM 17 THOUSAND FEET TO THE SUMMIT...SOUTHEAST 40 MPH BECOMING SOUTHWEST 40 MPH. .SATURDAY NIGHT...SNOW. SNOW ACCUMULATION 6 TO 12 INCHES. LOW AT 17 THOUSAND FEET...25 BELOW. WINDS FROM 17 THOUSAND FEET TO THE SUMMIT...SOUTHWEST 30 MPH. .SUNDAY... HIGH AT 17 THOUSAND FEET...20 BELOW WINDS FROM 17 THOUSAND FEET TO THE SUMMIT...SOUTHWEST 25 MPH. .OUTLOOK MONDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY... SNOW DIMINISHING LATE MONDAY. WINDS DECREASING SUNDAY. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- So... teams are doing their best to review skills, and find other outlets for their time in Talkeetna...
Kurt Wedberg, the Simmons boys and Blaine occupy themselves with recreational eating!
Air Josh skies over Ian Nicholson. Don’t you dare twist an ankle, boys!!!
