A weather station on top of Mount Charleston?

Tuesday, Aug. 19, 2008 | 2 a.m.

There is a weather station on top of Mount Charleston, right on the peak. Who or what agency operates it? And where is the information available?

Vegas Vic doesn’t know much about meteorology, but thanks to this cigarette I’ve been smoking for 57 years I do know which way the wind blows. Turns out, so do the cowpokes at the Las Vegas Ski & Snowboard Resort.

Two years ago, after some avalanche trouble, they put a weather station on a ridge above the resort. It’s at 11,419 feet — up there, for sure, but still 494 feet from the top of Mount Charleston.

The station measures temperature, humidity and wind direction, which Jack Bean, the resort’s mountain operations manager, says helps the resort prevent a mountain of snow from falling on skiers. “What we’re looking for is the direction of the wind, to know where snow is being deposited,” Bean says.

The station goes up in November, hauled to the ridge by foot or by helicopter, and comes down in April so it doesn’t get hit by summer lightning.

When it’s operating, readings are listed on the resort’s Web site, www.skilasvegas.com. (Vegas Vic thinks that has something to do with the “Internets” I keep hearing about.)

Questions for Vegas Vic should be sent to [email protected].