Release history
ShelterCast is maintained continuously and updated as the trail data, the forecast sources, and the tool itself improve. Here is what has shipped so far, newest first.
- 1.8.0·August 5, 2026Current
An FAQ and an elevation guide
Two new pages you can read without opening the planner: a Frequently Asked Questions page on how the forecasts are built, including what a trip forecast does and does not promise, and a guide to how much colder the Appalachian Trail runs at elevation, written from the same waypoint data the forecasts use. Site copy now speaks to every kind of hiker, from a day walk to a thru-hike. Under the hood, the daily Bluesky post gained a stricter self-check that holds the post rather than publish from incomplete data, alongside routine hardening and dependency updates.
- 1.7.0·July 23, 2026
A public record of what changes
This page, and the version number in the footer that links to it. ShelterCast now keeps a running account of what has shipped and when, so you can see for yourself that the tool is looked after rather than take our word for it. The About and release pages also gained the logo up top, which makes it clearer where you are and quicker to get back to the forecasts.
- 1.6.0·July 23, 2026
Trip length and pace checks
Trips are now capped at 300 miles, so a forecast always describes the weather where you are actually walking instead of averaging across half the trail. Pick two points much further apart and the planner tells you, rather than returning a range that spans several states. Trips inside that limit now also get a gentle flag when the pace looks unrealistic, like three nights across a hundred miles, though you can still run the forecast. The About page gained a section explaining how each day's forecast is put together.
- 1.5.0·July 19, 2026
Complete long-range outlooks
Ten-day shelter outlooks sometimes showed their last day or two as unavailable when the weather service throttled a burst of requests. Those days now fill in reliably. The About page also gained a note about the anonymous log we keep of what gets searched: the shelters, dates, and trip lengths people look up, never who looked them up.
- 1.4.0·July 15, 2026
Severe weather alerts
When the National Weather Service has an extreme or severe alert active anywhere along the Appalachian Trail corridor, a banner now appears at the top of the page. Tap it for the alert headline and the areas it covers. The check spans all fourteen trail states. This release also introduced the About and privacy page.
- 1.3.1–1.3.4·July 13, 2026
Security and dependency updates
Routine hardening, updated dependencies, and monitoring that raises an alarm if the daily post ever fails to publish.
- 1.3.0·July 10, 2026
A better daily post
The daily Bluesky post moved from naming a single hottest and coldest shelter to a Top 3 of each. Elevation and latitude mean the same shelter tends to win day after day, while second and third place genuinely change with the weather.
- 1.2.0·July 5, 2026
Daily trail weather on Bluesky
@sheltercast.org now posts once a day through the hiking season with the hottest shelter on the trail, the coldest overnight, and the biggest day-to-night temperature swing, measured at every active shelter's own elevation.
- 1.0.1–1.1.1·July 1, 2026
Post-launch fixes
Accuracy and reliability corrections from the launch review, plus the version badge in the footer that brought you here.
- 1.0.0·July 1, 2026
ShelterCast launches
The first public release. Pick a start and finish crossing for a night-by-night, elevation-adjusted forecast across your section, or check a ten-day outlook at any single shelter.