subject: How To Use Altimeter Wristwatches To Predict Weather Conditions [print this page] If you are spending much time in the wilderness you need to think about carrying one of the many altimeter watches are available with you. They offer a great philosophical backup plan in case something goes wrong with your primary navigation equipment.
It is much safer to have redundant outdoor gear when traveling that far away from civilization. If you are staying overnight, it is not uncommon to have weather changes over short period of time. You need the ability to use the equipment at your disposal to predict what the weather is going to be short term.
That way, you can take cover if need be or, you can cut the trip short of the weather is going to become severe. All that is well and good, but what happens if your various equipment; altimeter watches, etc. are not working? Is there a way that you can predict the weather without a barometer or without access to the Internet?
As it turns out, yes there is. There are several ways you can do this: Observe the grass where you are at the beginning of the day. If it is not wet and that indicates breezes are present, which typically portends rain in the forecast. If there's a lot of dew out then you probably aren't going to get rain at all for the short term.
The one way this forecasting plan falls apart though, is if it is not gully-washer the night before and the grass is wet from rain and not from the dew.
Deep orange sky is one thing you also need to look for. If you wake up and the sky is toward the red color spectrum, you're in good shape. The weather will probably be good, because this indicates an area of high pressure. If the if the color the sky is red early in the day that means the good weather is probably already passed by you and what follows may not be so nice.
If you see a rainbow in the morning your probably have weather trouble ahead. However if you see the same thing in the evening it usually means the bad weather has already cleared out and you can look for some nice weather ahead.
Check out the wind direction. Usually if the wind is coming from the west the approaching storms. If the wind is especially strong usually means good weather or high pressure is in the offing.
Lastly, sniff. Smell the flowers. Usually if it smells outside like plants or disintegrating plants, you've got poor weather ahead and probably some rain. That is because plants let go of their waste material during times of lower pressure.
In all cases, carry the proper equipment, like barometer watches, with you and you will have to uses these techniques. With altimeter watches you have a good backup plan and shouldn't have any problems while out in the wilderness but it is good to know some survival techniques none the less.