Get more from your web weather forecast

Before you head to the hills, everyone needs a good weather forecast.  Most folks use the link from the Mazamas home page to the National Weather Service (NWS). Once there, they typically click on the map of their weekend playground, scan the 7 day forecast and the Probability of Precipitation (PoP), and call it good. There’s a LOT more on the NWS site, but who understands all that weather jargon and tiny maps?  Actually, there’s a few more very useful links on that page that you don’t need a PhD in Meteorology to understand.

One good link in plain language is under the headline Forecasts (on the left side of the page), Discussion/Text. This is simply a paragraph or two of weather observations by the forecasters. This can give you a much broader understanding on the weather patterns for the next few days, allowing you to better make a decision in the field about what might be headed your way.