Support

Something wrong, or the app told you the mountain was hidden while you were looking straight at it? That is worth hearing about.

Common questions

The app says it's hidden but I can see it.

That is the most useful thing you can report. The app reads cloud ceiling and visibility from aviation weather stations between you and the mountain, so a low deck over a station can make it call a hidden sky when your particular view is clear. It also reads the forecast model at the mountain itself, since no station stands up there, and a model can be wrong in the other direction on a day the summit clears early. Every threshold in it is an estimate being tuned against real observations. Tell us the time and where you were standing.

Why does it need my location?

It doesn't. Location is optional and is requested in two places: tapping "Use my location" on the Now screen, which chooses which part of the Puget Sound area the reading is for, and tapping "Distances from me" on Spots, which sorts viewpoints by distance. Both are calculated on your device and never sent to us.

I'm not getting notifications.

Check that notifications are allowed for the app in your device settings. Alerts are deliberately rare. You get at most one a day for the mountain coming out, and one when a sunrise or sunset is graded Great — the top grade, not merely Decent — within about two hours. So the app can say “Sunset glow: decent” and stay silent, on purpose, and a quiet stretch of grey weather means a quiet phone.

What is alpenglow?

The warm red and orange light that lands on a high summit when the sun is below the horizon where you are standing. Rainier is tall enough to keep catching sunlight for several minutes after the city has gone into shadow. It needs high cloud to hold the color and dry, clean air to keep it vivid, which is what the Glow screen is scoring.

Where does the weather data come from?

Aviation weather observations from the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the forecast model from MET Norway (CC BY 4.0), and NOAA air-quality guidance for wildfire smoke. MET Norway reports cloud separately by height, which is what lets the app tell a low deck that hides the mountain from high cloud that doesn't.

How do I delete my data?

Turn off notifications and nothing further is sent. To have the stored notification token removed entirely, email us and ask. See the privacy policy for the full picture.