Hurricane Ridge weather station

Folks - the folks at Olympic National Park asked me to publicize this to solicit public comment.

Garth Ferber
NW Weather and Avalanche Center

---

Olympic National Park News Release

July 25, 2008
For Immediate Release
Barb Maynes 360-565-3005

Public Invited to Provide Input on Proposed Improvements to Hurricane
Ridge Weather Station

Public input is being sought regarding proposed improvements and
relocation of the Hurricane Ridge Weather Station, which is operated by
the Northwest Weather and Avalanche Center (NWAC) in cooperation with
Olympic National Park.

The weather station provides hourly readings on wind speed and
direction, temperature, snow depth and precipitation. These are posted
online at www.nwac.us/~nwac/products/OSOHUR and are used to
develop specialized mountain weather forecasts, including avalanche
forecasts important to both park staff and winter visitors.

“Accurate and reliable weather information is a vital element in
avalanche forecasting, which in turn is vital to visitor and staff
safety,” said Olympic National Park Superintendent Karen Gustin.

In its current location, the Hurricane Ridge Weather Station provides
accurate data on wind speed and direction, but wind exposure at the site
causes snow to drift there in winter, making the precipitation and snow
depth data unreliable.

To address this problem and improve the accuracy and reliability of the
data, NWAC and Olympic National Park propose to relocate the
precipitation, snow depth and temperature sensors to a nearby location
at Hurricane Ridge. The proposed site has been used for many years for
manual measurement of snow depth. The sensors would be mounted on a
small structure that would be built at the site.

Olympic National Park is preparing an Environmental Assessment (EA) to
be released later this year that will evaluate the environmental effects
of this proposal. Comments received during the scoping period will be
used to help define the issues and concerns to be addressed in the EA.

Comments should be submitted online by visiting
parkplanning.nps.gov , the website for the National Park Service’s
Planning Environment and Public Comment system, no later than August 25,
2008.

Comments may also be sent to:

Superintendent – Hurricane Ridge Weather Station Scoping
Olympic National Park
600 East Park Avenue
Port Angeles, WA 98362

Fax: 360-565-3015
Website: parkplanning.nps.gov

Commentors should be aware that their entire comment – including
personal identifying information – may be made publicly available at any
time. While commentors can ask that their personal identifying
information be withheld from public review, the NPS cannot guarantee
that this will be possible.

For more information about this project, people may visit National Park
Service’s Planning Environment and Public Comment website at
parkplanning.nps.gov or call the park at 360-565-3004.

NWAC is administered by the U.S. Forest Service, but it is cooperatively
funded by a variety of federal, state, and private agencies, including
the Washington State Department of Transportation, Washington State
Parks and Recreation Commission, National Weather Service, Pacific
Northwest Ski Areas Association, Friends of the Avalanche Center, the
National Park Service, and others.

NWAC promotes safety by helping reduce the impacts of avalanches and
adverse mountain weather on recreation, industry and transportation in
Washington and northern Oregon through data collection, mountain weather
and avalanche forecasting and education. The program provides detailed
weather and avalanche forecasts for the Washington Cascades and
Olympics, and the northern Oregon Cascades and manages the most
comprehensive real-time mountain weather data network in the U.S.


--NPS--