Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board Current Weather Mt. Whitney

If anyone out there could tell me what the current weather is at portal and the way to the summit. A group of us are going to hike the summit on 7/9 and I just want to bring the proper attire. Any info would be appreciated.

go to this link

http://www.wrh.noaa.gov/total_forecast/i...;lon=-118.24625

hiiker

There's a weather link on the portal store site. Yesterday at 1:30pm I checked. Temp high 38, low 18, wind average 24 with gusts to 74. I'm going up 7/9 also. Doesn't sound like alot's going to melt by then.

I guess that is White Summit

Does anyone know if that is very similar to Whitney Summit? Loan Pine is warm, but at a much lower elevation.

Under the Frequently Asked Question Thread VersatileFred posted a link to a SteveC post on weather sites. Use this link (sorry I'm not Versatile enough to hyperlink yet):

http://www.whitneyportalstore.com/cgi-bin/ubb/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=1;t=002923

Planning ahead and asking for current weather 3 weeks ahead of your trip is smart, but if you're new to the area, be cautious, as the Sierra are fickle. Its probably not a good idea to plan around averages, or weather predictions more than 3-6 days in advance of your departure date. Not meant to be foreboding... just something to keep in mind.

There is an automated weather station at the nearby Cottonwood Lakes. See:

http://cdec.water.ca.gov/cgi-progs/queryF?CWD

At 10,150 feet, the morning low was 32 and it hit 59 at 10:00 AM.

The most important weather preparation is to bring layers that can be added or subtracted according to conditions and to have a wind-proof, water-proof outer shell.

A good rule of thumb is to subtract 3-5 degrees F for every 1,000 feet you go up. Thus Lone Pine at ~3800 feet could be approximately 50 degrees warmer than the summit in stable summer weather conditions! Typically I use 3 degrees up to 5,000 feet and then 5 degrees above that. It seems to generally hold true in the summer.

As noted in <A href="http://www.whitneyportalstore.com/cgi-bin/ubb/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=1;t=002363">FAQ</A>, temperature shifts, hail, rain, and lightning can emerge while you are beyond Trail Crest, regardless of the forecast. You should be prepared for 90+ degrees in Lone Pine and 30 degrees at the top if something unexpected happens. Polypropylene underwear has a good dynamic range and is lightweight. A reflective space blanket is a good thing to have in your emergency kit. The more tools that you have in your tool kit the better off you are.