Wind and Thermals

[akak510]

As a general rule of thumb, which way do the thermals and wind travel in the mountains at different times of the day? I know it's not a perfect science and can be unpredictable but being from Oklahoma I don't have to worry about thermals and lack a general understanding.

 

[jmez]

Warm air rises and cool air falls. In the morning they will be going down until the sun is up and starts to warm the air. During the day they will be coming up because of the warmer air. In the evening they will switch and start going down again as the sun goes down and the temp falls.

The timing is different everywhere I hunt. It is also different for different places on the mountain. Standing out if a meadow in the early am they are going to be going up, get into the trees and they will still be going down. The can and do change during the day if there are varying weather conditions, sun/clouds, storms etc.

 

[cnelk]

The best way to describe downslope thermals would be to make a fist.
Then imagine water running over it.
Your knuckles are the higher peaks, the dips between knuckles are saddles, your fingers are ridges running up to the peaks, and valleys are the lines between your fingers.

As you can tell they will vary greatly based on terrain type.

Who made a fist and went ‘ah’

 

[Gulfgoose]

I'm always happy when another flatlander asks a question like this. The fist analogy is great.

 

[Whip]

The basics are given in the previous replies and that's great advice to start with. As mentioned, things do change from one area of the mountain to another, throughout the day, eddys and swirls, etc. The most important thing is to always be aware of what the wind is actually doing where you are at the time. A wind powder puffer bottle, milkweed seed pods, thread and feather on your bow, etc are critical tools. Have a way to monitor the wind constantly, and use it! I'd rather go without my binoculars than my puffer bottle.

 

[CX5Ranch]

A puff bottle filled with talc powder is a must have. Don't go in if the wind is bad. Trying to figure out the wind in Colorado while sitting in Oklahoma is gonna be tough. I just go with the flow when I get there. Find the elk first then worry about hunting them

 

[Randy Newberg]

That question gets asked a lot. While in AZ last December we watched two hunters who were probably not familiar with thermals walk in from above during early morning when thermals are going downhill. End result was two bulls we were watching blew out without the hunters even seeing them.

Later that morning, in this video, I did my best to demonstrate thermals by using a nearby rock as my mountain slope.

[video=youtube_share;qFEDTktq7rw]https://youtu.be/qFEDTktq7rw[/video]