Munro Weather Forecasting

[Mal Grey]

Martin Moran's Scotland's Winter Mountains book had a good section on understanding the weather, with particular reference to understand the differing types of weather systems in the Atlantic or on the Continent, and the typical conditions they led to. This was written in the days before the internet, and when getting a forecast during your week in Scotland was hard, so you had to make your best estimate and prepare plans and back up plans based on it.

[al78]

My tolerance for strong winds is lower than most I think. I am quite tall and slender so I'm susceptible to being knocked off balance. The bigger the person, the better they are at withstanding strong winds because weight goes up as the cube of the lengthscale of the person, whereas surface area goes up with the square of the lengthscale, and withstanding high winds is easier the heavier you are and thinner you are. Once when I was on the summit of Lochnagar I had a hand held anemometer with me and the peak gust it recorded was 52 mph, and that was enough to buffet me to the point where I would definitely not be doing a ridge walk in such conditions, and walking anywhere in those winds would be unpleasant, I'd probably need walking poles to brace against the gusts.

I suspect that people who claim to be fine in 60+ mph winds don't know what a sustained 60 mph wind with higher gusts feels like.

[WallaceJohnston]

The Met Office app (and website) gives you a forecast for most hills.
Type in the name of the hill you are looking at (not all the hills are shown, so look at a slightly higher but very close by hill) and it gives you wind speed plus gust speed for the summits, along with visibility, precipitation and feels like temperature.

MWIS covers such a large area, it is a good guide, but I have used this only to find it wasn’t as accurate as the met office forecaster.

You also need to remember that the Met Office App forecast is updated much more often than MWIS. If bad weather is moving in, the Met Office will give you a much more accurate picture as to precisely when it will arrive.

[Alteknacker]

...I'd personally move each of your categories down 10mph, but that's for me these days when I'm older, and in the past we'd happily make attempts on rounded hills in any wind.

Yes, I too, most particularly if it's snowy/icy underfoot. I have actually been blown along, unable to stop, in such conditions (though really my own fault because I couldn't be bothered to don the crampons!).

One of the things to remember about wind speed is that the force on you is proportional to the square of the speed - means if the windspeed doubles, the force trying to blow you off the hill quadruples!!

[NickyRannoch]

The other thing to consider with the wind is temperature. 50mph in the summer is tolerable and in the depths of winter could be deadly

[Gareth Harper]

If you ask a group of regular Scottish hill goers or MRT you will likely get the same opinion. That doesn’t mean we ignore it, but you will find it’s a widely held opinion .

I don’t know about MRT but I very much doubt that regular hill goers use calibrated equipment to take wind speed readings on hill walks. I know I don’t.

Forecasting is what it is – a forecast – an informed prediction. I find MWIS extremely useful – I don’t go up the hills without first checking their forecast.

Obviously the more you go out the better you understand how the forecast relates to the conditions you actually experience on the hill.

[kilima36]

After all the advice I received following my post I checked the various forecasting apps. Prior to doing this I'd initially planned to do the Ben Lawers 5 today but then changed my plans and just climbed Ben Chonzie. I also took into consideration the wind speed suggestions and thought the summit would be close to my limit but also thought I need to gain experience too.

My thinking was that it was just one climb so easier to opt out if need be and there were no ridges.

Thanks again for sharing and it is appreciated.

[kilima36]

After all the advice I received following my post I checked the various forecasting apps. Prior to doing this I'd initially planned to do the Ben Lawers 5 today but then changed my plans and just climbed Ben Chonzie. I also took into consideration the wind speed suggestions and thought the summit would be close to my limit but also thought I need to gain experience too.

My thinking was that it was just one climb so easier to opt out if need be and there were no ridges.

Thanks again for sharing and it is appreciated.

[Kenny Raeside]

I did the circuit of Coire Nan Cat in the Lawers hills today, wind was forecast to be 45km/h.
That was PLENTY strong enough on the ridge summit for me.
I was being blown off course in the gusts.

Great circuit though 👍