Brad's Barometer (Or how read Alberta Weather)

Brad’s Alberta barometer and cloudy crystal
Ball
 
(or how to keep your camera dry in Alberta)
 
Yes, its true. After years of roaming this province
shooting, climbing hiking, skiing, fishing,
running…(you get the exaggerated point) I know it
is true- we live in a tricky place for knowing what
the weather is going to be like. Note to self: We
have a lot of micro climates here, for example the
weather is different between Banff and Canmore,
Between Banff and Louise and Between Canmore
and Kananaskis. True Dat.
 
So, here is how I do it.
1. Look at 5-10 forecasts and take an average.
The Norwegians are best at it. Yup Really!
www.yr.no
2. Look at several towns/areas around the areamostly
west and NW as that’s most of where
our weather comes from ie. Banff, Radium,
Jasper, Red Deer, Waterton, Kananaskis,
Golden, etc.
3. Look at a lot of webcams. Real time looking is
better than most forecasts. These are the
best: http://skierbob.ca/web-cams/
4. Look at satellite images and get used to how
to read them:
http://www.accuweather.com/en/ca/alberta/
satellite
5. Learn a lot about what cloud shapes are
saying. Clouds tell us all we need to knowusually
days before. Study weather.
6. Learn from sailors. “Red sky in the morning, sailors
warning” Mariner expressions tell a lot.
For example, wind from the east usually means
and ‘up slope’ system. Upslope is a system
that swirls in from the coast from the SW. It
means big wet. Or if high cirrus clouds that
move in slow. Read: slow in, slow out. Or, if
the clouds look like camera lenses ‘lenticulars’
then it means bad weather in 24-36 hours.
Usually bad. Quick Toto into the basement,
kinda stuff. You get the point.
So, that’s how I do it. So, spend a lot of time
online and walking down your street looking up.
 
 
Happy shooting! Brad