(un)Packing Fears ~ Cold (weather history)

[Kittyslayer]

So planning ahead for an April 1, 2024 NOBO start and want to practice with some of my gear at home this spring.

Looking for average Hi/Lo temperatures for shelters/campsites for the beginning and end of my thru hike so I can have the appropriate cold weather gear. I can find weather history for towns along the way but I would imagine locations actually on the trail will vary. Or maybe nearby towns gets me close enough for research purposes. Need to know what to expect for an average low temperature and probably subtract an extra ten degrees as a cushion.

Have a 20 degree quilt, silk liner, and R-5 pad. Looking for weather history to dial in some base layers // sleeping clothes.

Practice night in the back yard and stayed toasty warm. My wife took the photo. Notice no footprints where she came to check to see if I was alive. She just took the picture so she could laugh with her girlfriends about her crazy husband.

Tarp_Snow.jpg

[Kittyslayer]

I did find this chart. Just a little skeptical that it is actual on trail temperatures.

http://trailquest.net/weather.html

B505BC71-0E12-4C88-AAED-4F8E787F872C.gif

[HankIV]

No blood splatter in the snow either, so count your blessings!

Seriously, that sounds fine to me, a medium sleeper. Especially if you did okay that night. I was a little chilly some nights with a 30F quilt early on my SOBO. By the end in Oct fairly high up I knew I needed a boost. Rather than get a new quilt, I just added a set of 260W base layers. Did the trick. As your nickname indicates, there is more than one way to skin a cat.

[WinterWx]

A neat little tool from NWS to explore past climate conditions:
https://www.weather.gov/wrh/climate?wfo=gsp

choose the almanac tool and select a location and date of interest. (GSP is the forecast office that covers some of trail area through NC).

for example, the lowest temperature ever observed at Hot Springs gauge on April 10 was 26F in 2007.

a useful rule of thumb is that temperatures decrease 5F with every 1000ft increase in elevation.

you can explore the data, but I suspect you will be fine with 20F quilt starting in April.

[Daybreak]

A 20 F bag with a pad and one layer of sleeping clothes is a typical recommendation for that time of year. With a March 20ish start, it got down to the lower 20s for me heading up into GSMNP. If you hit a really cold spell, make a nalgene hot water bottle and put it in a wool sock. Any air in the bottle will create pressure as it heats up so make sure it has warmed up before you seal it tight and double check it for leaks.

[Kittyslayer]

Came across this website for current/forecasted weather for individual shelters along the trail. Started a chart with a "virtual" hike April 1st so I will have data for 2023 as I plan 2024. At least I will have a general idea of what 2023 weather looked like as I trek north. Once on the site you can keep clicking the next arrow for the shelter area you will come up on next.

I will plan to use this website during my actual hike to supplement the forecast I get on my phone and Garmin InReach.

https://www.atweather.org/

[Deadeye]

"Jay Wanders Out" has a you-tube vlog of his 2022 AT thru, starting January 28, 2022. He reported the high and low temps the end of each day's vlog. The first week had the only nights below 20*. After that, most nights were mid 20's to mid 40's. He stayed in town on a few nights that were forecast to be too cold or snowy, but he didn't spend many nights off trail.

YMMV