First time Whitney hikers here.. We have permits for the day hike this coming Saturday, but current forecast according to the mountain- forecast site has snow/heavy rain all weekend

https://www.mountain-forecast.com/peaks/Mount-Whitney/forecasts/4418

If this holds, I was wondering if it makes sense to even attempt to submit.. We can probably handle hiking in rain/snow showers if there is no risk of thunderstorm, but I am not sure if it will be worth it - assume there is not much to see in this type of weather condition due to low visibility..

Appreciate thoughts/insights from you experienced hikers!

Here we go again... I don't know why so many people use Mountain-Forecast.com. It ALWAYS over-predicts snow and rain!

Please go to the NOAA weather site to get a more realistic forecast. It's the first one on the Mt Whitney Weather page, link is always in the box to the left.

You should watch the forecast closely before you go, and with NOAA's 20% chance of rain prediction, definitely carry rain gear. It most likely will NOT be "snow/heavy rain all weekend".

Thanks Steve. Thought I saw your post in the other thread about mountain-forecast over predicting rain/snow, but I guess as first time hikers we were just a little over-concerned

Thanks again for your assurance!

rFan, you may also want to consider an early start time. While the forecast for thunderstorms is only a "slight chance", you can improve your odds by arriving at the summit before noon. Thunderstorms are more frequent in the afternoon, so later arrival increases the odds. 9 hours up is "typical", and if you are "typical" a 3:00 AM start time would get you to the summit by noon.

John, thanks for your suggestion. We were contemplating a 2-3AM start initially but may have to move that up to 1AM, if not midnight. I guess the good thing about this hike is we would still get a chance to enjoy the sceneries on our way back since we will be coming back the same route..

Thanks!

And, you might catch a magnificent sunrise from somewhere along the trail, if not on the switchbacks!

John - that would be great.. Now I started getting psyched up about the hike again