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Summer Sawtooth Weather?

Original Post
Creed Archibald · · Salt Lake City, UT · Joined Apr 2012 · Points: 1,016

I'm planning to climb in the Sawtooth Range, Elephants Perch specifically, the first week in August. Does the Sawtooth Range get regular afternoon storms? Is it like RMNP where rain is a guarantee regardless of the forecast? Or are afternoon storms more sporadic, like the Wind River Range?

Thanks for the beta,
C.

Shiho · · Unknown Hometown · Joined Dec 2010 · Points: 100

Hi!
I met you a couple of times in the Winds. Anyway, it is a typical alpine area where afternoon storm is expected almost everyday, like in the winds.
Hope you are doing well.
Shiho

Creed Archibald · · Salt Lake City, UT · Joined Apr 2012 · Points: 1,016

Yes I remember you! Thanks for the tip. I always felt like the weather was much more forgiving in the Winds than in RMNP.

Sounds like we should be climbing and first light and aiming to get off the rock by early afternoon.

Old lady H · · Boise, ID · Joined Aug 2015 · Points: 1,374

Check out the forecasts when you are closer to arriving. Tstorms are always possible, but aren't a given for every single day. Just pay attention. If you were peak bagging, it would be a greater concern, or somewhere where the thunderstorms have tornadoes.... :-)

Stanley, Idaho has a live cam, sawtoothcamera.com which is really fun to check out. You can also get historical daily precipitation online, although not with my phone right now! August is probably something like .4" for the whole month. A .15" rain is a gully washer here, so keep it in perspective, and have a great time!

Also, August heads into fire season, unfortunately, which you'll also want to keep an eye on. We've had a decent amount of winter/spring precipitation, so if summer heats up fast and furious, we could have yet another bad year. Hope not.

Guideline #1: Don't be a jerk.

Northern Utah & Idaho
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