Thank you for using this forecast! Your donations keep this forecast going – despite rumors to the contrary, nobody pays me to write this and post it. This forecast started as a way for me to find better windsurfing conditions and better skiing in the winter. Seemed silly to keep that information to myself, so it’s here for you (almost) every day. Make a $12 or larger donation by clicking on the sun and you’re on the email list for a year. No dealing with the twice-yearly pledge drive. No dealing with my hosting provider’s issues. Sometimes I even have prizes to give away from the email list sponsors. Thank you again for your support! Enjoy the snow and wind and sun!
Good morning,
Join Wet Planet Whitewater Center, Kayak Shed and Columbia Center for the Arts as the REEL Paddling Film Festival Tonight. 8pm. $10. The paddling films have something for everyone and include all types of paddling: sea & whitewater kayaking, canoeing, stand up paddling and even surfing. If you were on the mailing list, you’d be competing for free tickets. But then again, $10 is cheap. See you there!
Happy Blowout Day, everyone. If you’d like to get your windsurfing downwinder on, head to Stevenson’s Bob’s Beach this morning. Skippers’ meeting is at 9am. First possible start is 9:15am, although with it blowing exactly 3mph at 6am, a 9:15am start doesn’t seem all that likely. Don’t you worry, though. It’ll be windy today. Today will also start with a beautiful sunrise, but unless you, like me, happened to wake up that early, you missed it. Don’t worry. We’ll have a lot of beautiful sunrises and sunsets in the next few days as the PNW stays under southerly flow.
Wind forecast
Yes, it will be windy today. Thankfully. Gradients were sitting at .12 (PDX-DLS) and .02 (DLS-PSC) at 6am. That’s enough to make for a fun day on the river, but it’s worth noting that the unstable atmosphere – look up and see developing cumulus clouds for the indication of this – could make the wind a little unreliable and gusty. That said, we’ll see the breeze quickly climb into the upper teens at Stevenson and the low to mid-twenties near Hood River, with the typical afternoon bump at Doug’s.
Tomorrow, Sunday, looks nearly dead calm, with just a touch of west wind very early in the morning. Plan for swimming and kayaking and rafting tomorrow.
Models are in a bit of a disagreement over the first half of next week, but I’ll go with the GFS. Why? Because it’s my favorite, because I have access to it, and because, starting Monday, it’s predicting the best stretch of wind I’ve seen in years. So let’s stick with the GFS dream scenario for now: Monday-Thursday = upper twenties to low thirties with the strongest wind near Hood River.
In cherry farmer rain prediction news, the best (worst?) chances for thunderstorms will be in the wee hours of Monday morning and also on Monday evening.
In other news, RiverKeeper did another water sample, and has decided it IS safe for you to swim at the Event Site, Marina, Hook and Waterfront Park. Thank goodness. It would have been a hot weekend without those beaches!
| Your favorite beach | Dawn Patrol |
9am- 11:30a |
11:30a- 3pm |
3pm- dusk |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stevenson | 5-10 | 13-15 | 17-21 | 17-21 | |
| Hatch (subtract a few mph for Event Site) | 15-18 | 23-26 | 23-26 | 23-26 | |
| Doug’s / Rowena / Lyle | 15-18 | 15-18 | 22-25 | 22-25 | |
| Maryhill / Rufus / The Wall | 10-15 | 10-15 | 13-15 | 13-15 | |
| Arlington / Roosevelt | 7-11 | 7-11 | 13-15 | 13-15 | |
The Clymb: free membership. Cheap gear. Temira approves. Click to join.
Cycling news
Last minute addition to bike news: Today is the Mt. Adams Country Bike Tour, following two of the best loops in the Gorge. Combine the 42 mile Glenwood loop with the 50-ish mile Forest Loop for (and a few other miles) for the finest Century ride around. Thank goodness this one’s fully supported with lots of food and water.
In mountain bike news, the dirt’s still good. In more important and exciting and amazing mountain bike news (thanks a lot, Mitchell), the Siouxon-Wildcat-Huffman loop is OPEN for the first time in a couple of years. Mountain biking in the middle of nowhere. 20-something miles of bliss (and a few miles of agonizing climbing).
And a request from Ranger Jimmy T: if you’re riding off the 44 Road, please, please, please don’t ride the completed bits of the SuperConnector Trail. Final approval from The Dalles Watershed is still pending, and we need cooperation from everyone to make this trail a blissful reality. Next work party, should you want to see singletrack from Knebal to Surveyor’s, is July 14th.
Other stuff
If you’re out near Biggs today, check out the Maryhill Festival of Speed, that’s downhill skateboarding. If you want to stay closer to the water today to beat the heat, it’s Windfest at Hood River’s Event Site, with windsurfing demos for $5 for CGWA members and free clinics for everyone.
Also today, check out the dingy racing in Cascade Locks and the Central Gorge Master Gardeners garden tour in Hood River. If you don’t have tickets for the tour, get them at Good News Gardening this morning.
Coming up this evening, it’s night two of the REEL paddling film festival at Columbia Center for the Arts, brought to you by Wet Planet Whitewater and the Kayak Shed. This isn’t just kayaking – it’s SUP, surf, kayaking, and all sorts of other films. Plus, the Arts Center has air conditioning, so it’s going to be a great place to be this evening!
Have an awesome day today!
Temira
