karen

I have plane tickets to go to Seattle from this Thurs. to Tues. and am greatly looking forward to doing outdoorsy stuff, especially in Mt. Ranier National Pk. However, I just checked the weather report and thunderstorms are predicted for every day I will be there, except Mon. I was wondering if anyone who lives in Seattle could tell me if they too have heard this weather prediction. Also, there is not too much of a charge for cancelling my ticket--$50, so do people recommend that I do this, and reschedule my trip for later in Oct.? I will be very sad to get there and have my plans to explore the outdoors rained out! Advice needed...

ALF

Yes, Seattle Times reports likely chance of showers through the weekend, with clearing late Sunday. I don't know where you are from, but Cascade weather reports are not very dependable, as the Olympic Mtns steer a lot of the weather unpredicatably northward or southward. I too expect to be at Rainier this weekend, and it certainly doesn't look too good. The only other thing that I can tell you is that the weather tends to worsen the deeper you go into autumn, so I'm not sure that things will necessarily improve. For $50, I guess it might be worthwhile changing, provided you are flexible enough in your own scheduling. We are going, rain or shine!

ldsant

Most people here in Seattle just really bring fleece and gore-tex and participate in the outdoors anyway (that's one of the draws for living here). It will probably rain, but thunderstorms? We rarely have those. This morning started off somewhat cloudy and cool, but now we have sun breaks this afternoon and I've been walking around all day with a light turtleneck and light sweater. It's been nice. I wouldn't cancel, because as Alf says, unless you're here in July and August, weather is going to be somewhat rainy/cloudy.

s

Tough question. Look at the accuweather.com weather forecast and it looks like there is some chance of rain letting up by the weekend although there seems to be a consensus that it will rain Thurs. and Fri. In any case, it will be cold (day time temp. in Mt. Rainier in the 30's and 40's F.) and I would expect some rain, but maybe not constant rain. People who have always lived here have learned to deal with this. If I lived somewhere else and had a choice to go to some other mountain where it might be sunnier I know what I would do. If the only choice is to come later in the month I would say it is a toss up. There are often days even in late in October where it is clear on Mt. Rainier. Will that be true this year and at a time when you can come?

John

I also looked at the extended forecast today and mine said partly cloudy on Sunday and Monday, perfect for the hills.

Big mountains like Rainier actually make their own weather, as relatively warm air flows up the mountain, cooling below dewpoint as it does, hence rain or fog or clouds. Thus the weather at the bottom can be different than the weather 5000 - 6000 feet up, i.e., Paradise or Sunrise on the mountain.

Thunderstorms are not uncommon in the mountains in spring or fall, but I certainly wouldn't skip going because of that. On the positive side, autumn is in full swing at higher elevations, so the chance of good fall color is very high.

The one good thing about the Cascades is that it's a very short drive across them, and the other side is invariably drier than the west side. Be opportunistic, and if the weather is crummy one day, hop over to Wenatchee or Ellensburg and enjoy the under-visited "dry" side of the state. Another possibility is the Olympics, in particular the northern parts (Hurricane Ridge etc.) which offer fine mountain scenery but which are usually more dry than the south or west sides, owing to the "rain shadow" effect of the peaks. Plus with visiting the Olympics from Seattle, we throw in a lovely ferry trip to boot.