summiting Mt. San J safely on saturday (avoiding lightning)

[michael]

A question for da regulars...

If i summit by 11AM this Saturday. Do you think ill be getting wet or deal with other "shocking" weather.

It sais "possible" T-storm acitivity but i cant get a "read" on Mt. San Jacinto weather nor do i have weatherx-perience for this area..

any comments however cynical is appreciated...

[neverwashasbeen]

From a gambling perspective I'd say if you reach the summit by 11am, you should be able to stay dry (assuming you don't sweat).

[HH8]

It usually takes a few hours of sunlight for the thunderheads to swell up.
That's where the term "daily afternoon thundershowers" comes from.

[jnj86]

I live in Beaumont and I haven't seen a single cloud over San Jacinto yet this week, but I've noticed that a couple weather sites show a chance of thunderstorms for the Idyllwild area this Sat thru Mon. Why do the thunderstorms seem to pop up on the weekends?!!! My wife and I were camping at Boulder Basin last weekend and were on top of Black Mtn Saturday morning when the thunderstorms came up from the south and boy did we get a lightning show! We'll be camping at Marion Mtn for the Labor Day weekend, please no thunderstorms this time!

[michael]

thank you for your comments...hmmm..i play it by ear then...

[zippetydude]

By 11 you should be just fine. Only when we've had several days of on-and-off storms does it start before noon, and even then before 11 would be rare. A couple years ago when we were having a monster series of storms over on San G, I went up anyway. It was perfectly clear blue skies at dawn, just a few little white clouds at 9:00 when I hit the peak, and the first of the lightning and thunder started just as I got down to my car at around 11. So, I'd say generally anything before noon is fine, but 11 is definitely on the safer side.

Hope you have fun Michael. I'm over on San G tomorrow, doing a Forsee/SanG/Dry Lake loop, so if there's a storm, I'll probably get to enjoy it too. Be safe out there!

Hey, something to think about...does lightning hit the tram cable or tram towers? Seems like it would have to. I don't imagine it would hurt anyone unless it actually hit the tram car, but if I were in the tram, that would scare the heck out of me.

z

[michael]

Thank you. That gives me a better perspective for future times. i will plan on going up this saturday...so ill plan to summit before 11AM this time up.