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A4 checklist with all illustrated steps. Tick the boxes on paper as you go.

FeatherSticks · Skills

Reading the Weather Outdoors: Clouds, Pressure, Wind and Storm Safety

The sky tells you about tomorrow's rain – if you know how to read it.

Quick facts

Forecast range
A few hours to about a day
Difficulty
Easy to learn, years to master
Best for
Trip decisions, camp site, storm safety
You need
Your eyes, a watch, ideally a barometer

What you need

  • Barometer or altimeter watch with barometer mode
  • Small notebook and pencil for pressure and cloud notes
  • Rain gear and an extra warm layer
  • Tarp and guylines that can be re-pitched quickly
  • Insulating sit pad (also for the lightning crouch)
  • Headlamp for storms that arrive at dusk

Step by step

  1. Look at the sky every hour

    1 Look at the sky every hour

    Note cloud type, height and trend: are clouds growing, thickening and lowering, or shrinking and breaking up?

  2. Track the pressure trend

    2 Track the pressure trend

    Check a barometer or altimeter watch regularly. A fall of about 3 hPa in 3 hours often means worsening weather.

  3. Notice wind shifts

    3 Notice wind shifts

    A wind turning anticlockwise – for example west to south-west to south – often announces an approaching front.

  4. Watch for warning signs

    4 Watch for warning signs

    Cumulus towering up by midday, a halo around the sun or a darkening western sky call for a plan B.

  5. Act early when thunder starts

    5 Act early when thunder starts

    Count from flash to thunder: under 30 seconds, head for safer ground now. Wait 30 minutes after the last thunder.

  6. Choose a weather-safe camp

    6 Choose a weather-safe camp

    Avoid hollows where cold air and fog collect, exposed ridges, lone trees and dry stream beds.

Common mistakes

  • Relying only on an app forecast and never looking up.
  • Waiting for the first thunder before leaving an exposed ridge.
  • Sheltering from a storm under a lone tree or in a shallow cave.
  • Pitching camp in a hollow or on a valley floor on a clear, calm night.
  • Reading an altimeter watch as a barometer while walking up and down hills.
  • Trusting a single sign, such as one red sunset, instead of combining several.