Weather radio

[maxNcathy]

Have you found a weather radio helpful on the AT.. in the mountains of Ga,NC and TN..

I carried a gadget last year that showed barometric pressure and would show sun or clouds or rain symbols as a forecast of weather.

One time at Carter Gap shelter it was cold and foggy...it showed the sunshine symbol so i moved on down the trail..soon it was clear and sunny..

BUT maybe a weather radio would be a good addition??

Any recommendations?

[Darwin again]

I carried a weather radio for the first part of my hike in the south, through the areas you mention.

I found it useful for knowing if and when a front was coming through and this information was good to have in my daily hike planning. I used the information to decide whether to hike a little longer on a given day and get into town earlier the next day. I avoided trouble on two occasions by heading for town before three big snow storms in 2005 -- I arrived in town before the mass of hikers bailed out of the mountains and occupied all the rooms in town. (Amazingly, I managed to do this at Hiawassee, Franklin AND Hot Springs, perfectly timed. Was it luck or was it because I had the weather information? You decide!)

As for local weather up in the mountains, it always varied from the forecasts I heard on the radio, since they were intended for the towns and cities at lower elevations. Mountain meteorology is tricky. It was always colder, wetter, snowier, icier, etc., where I was than what the nws weather said it would be, of course.

I carried the Sony SRF-M37V, which I loved. (Got it at Wally World) TV, weather, am/fm. Plus a button that locks the keys so it won't switch on accidentally in the pack or belt pouch and kill the batteries. Nice little radio. Still have it somewhere. I quit carrying it later on, since rain was the only menace in warmer weather.

[Darwin again]

The barometric pressure thingee sounds interesting. It probably just reads the trend, up or down, of the pressure and gives an indication from that.

Usually, when you're out there and the pressure is changing, you pretty much take what you get, because you're in the weather situation already. I'd say the pressure gadget seems fun, but probably not all that useful. Sounds like it might be giving obvious information instead of looking over the horizon like a weather radio can do. Unless it has a little symbol of a skull and crossbones that means "dig a hole and pray," you're probably not going to pay much attention to what it says. ;-)
Just my 2c.

[hammock engineer]

I carried the sony radio and liked the weather feature. I carry a radio now anyways. I found the weather info in the area's you are talking about helpful and pretty close. The channel said it was for the mountains of south NC, north GA, including the Smokies. IT gave the weather for the cites, but also for the mountains.

I didn't always like what it had to say, but I found it pretty close last month.

[bigben]

I carry a little Radio Shack AM/FM/TV/Weather pocket radio on section hikes. I keep it in a ziploc bag with a deck of cards and a pait of dice. I call it my " backwoods entertainment center." I wouldn't carry the radio on a thru-hike, because, I mean, you're going to be out in the weather day after day, week after week, regardless of what it is so who cares. Just extra weight. You can say that too about carrying it on a section, but 1 week on the AT is different that 20. I'd carry a 6 pack of beer if I could keep it cold! I have found that the thru-hikers I've run into are thankful and appreciative for hearing a weather report out on the trail, without the weight penalty. Early morning at a shelter boiling breakfast water on the picnic table, I've yet to hear anyone complain about hearing a NOAA weather report.

Bigben