Weather on Everest – what will 2019 bring?

A sunny evening at Camp 3, looking out over the Western Cwm at the clouds in the Khumbu valley.

Most Everest climbers are now at Base Camp and into their acclimatisation rotations. Once these are over – by around the end of April – climbers will be waiting for a “weather window” for going to the summit. This weather window is a period of stable weather when the jet stream moves and winds on the summit drop.

The summit of Everest is so high that it sticks up into the lower jet stream, a narrow...