vince - i think of those long ridges around penns and state college as
"hills", compared to western nc mountains. what is the highest elevation
in the area of penns and state college? isn't penns at coburn at about
900-1000 feet elevation?

You're right, Jeff. The highest point in PA is Mt. Davis, only about
3,200 feet, and it's far to the SW of this area.

I've been to western NC so I know you have peaks more than twice that
high.

UNV, State College Airport, is 1250 feet above mean sea level. Most
ridge-tops around here reach 2200 to 2400 feet, so there's about a
thousand-foot rise from the valleys.

Allen Epps wrote:

A glance at topozone.com shows Coburn at 1020 feet and those ridges
around topping out about 1550 feet. It's not the height but the
steepness, at least that's what I tell myself as I lay sucking in pine
needles trying to catch my breath.

i was interested in vince's statement that seemed to imply weather and
temps were related to changes or variety of elevation around penns.

Rising air is cooled because it's subject to less pressure and thus
expands (like the air coming out of the valve of your tire); cooler
air can hold less moisture, so the rising causes clouds and precip.

You can see this dramatiocally if you drive over Trail Ridge Road in
RMNP. The east slope is brown, the west slope is green.

Here, we get "Lake Effect" precip. Air moving across Lake Erie (elev.
about 600 feet) picks up moisture, then drops it as it rises over
these mountains, puny though they be. We also get the worst icing
conditions for flying in the U.S., for the same reason.

still, i've been fishing at the base of grandfather mountain (around 2500 feet)
and then gone up to the summit (about 6000 feet), and there was a patent weather change.

I seem to recall reading, years ago, that a thousand-foot change in
altitude is equivalent to a thousand-mile change in latitude. Seems
hard to believe, until you recall that Mt. Kilimanjaro, which sits on
the equator, always has snow on top.

vince