is our preferred hiking weather prediction website.
Being a good hiker means you need to also know how to read your environment and an accurate weather forecast.
You need to know what the weather is going to be before you start your hike:
- If its going to be very hot, you might want to do a hike which is less exposed to the sun
- If there is going to be a strong wind, you might want to be on a hike which is hidden from the specific wind direction
- On a cold day, you might want to go on a hike which will let you enjoy the heat of the sun.
We have found that walking around a mountain (or even a small hill) the temperature can change by about 6 - 8 degrees just by walking in or out of the shade. This is why knowing the weather is a major factor you need to take into consideration when you are about to go and explore the unknown.
We use Windguru as our best and most accurate weather forecaster for anywhere around the world. This link will take you to the forecast for Cape Town in South Africa. You can change it by choosing your location in the drop down arrows.
How do you read the forecast above?
The following keys (as indicated in the image above) will give you a very accurate immediate to 6 day forecast:
Wind speed: wind speed in 10 meters above surface.
Wind direction: Wind gets its name from the direction it comes. A good map will always show NORTH at the top.
Temperature: Temperature is measured 2 meters above ground.
Cloud cover: High / middle / low cloud cover in percent.
Rain: measured in milimeters.
Windguru rating: What the wind conditions will be like.
1 Star is light wind, 2 stars is strong wind, 3 stars is very strong wind.
Yellow stars are warm wind conditions, blue stars are cold wind conditions.
Wave: Significant wave height in meters. It is the average height (from wave crest to trough) of the one-third highest waves at a location.
Wave period: Peak wave period in seconds. It is the period of the dominant wave system derived from the wave energy spectrum.
Wave direction: Direction of the dominant waves.
Colors used in forecasts determine the actual conditions: