Camp safety and weather: storms, lightning and knowing when to bail

A town forecast is a starting point, not an answer. Mountains make their own weather: temperature drops roughly 3.5°F per 1,000 feet of elevation, wind increases with exposure, and afternoon thunderstorms build over high ground in summer even when the valley looks clear.

Check a mountain-specific forecast if you can, look at the hourly breakdown rather than the daily summary, and pay attention to wind speed and storm probability between noon and 6pm — that is when most summer storms fire.

If you can hear thunder, you are close enough to be struck. The safe places are a hard-topped vehicle or a substantial building — a tent is not shelter from lightning, and neither is a picnic pavilion.

Caught outside, get off high ground, away from isolated trees and water, and away from metal fences. Spread the group out so one strike cannot injure everyone. If you have no better option, crouch on insulating material with feet together until 30 minutes after the last thunder.

Wind damages more tents than rain does. Pitch with the low end into the wind, use every guy line, and avoid camping under dead branches — 'widowmakers' fall without warning.

Rain plus wind plus temperatures in the 40s–50s°F is the classic hypothermia recipe, not deep winter. Stay dry, change out of wet base layers before you get cold, and eat — your body can't make heat without fuel.

Leaving early is a skill, not a failure. The signs it's time: anyone in the group is shivering and can't stop, gear is soaked with no way to dry it, the forecast has deteriorated past your equipment's honest limits, or you're rationing daylight.

Make the decision while you still have energy and daylight to execute it. The version of the trip where you packed up at 2pm and drove home is always better than the version where you waited until dark to find out.