The Mighty Columbia certainly looks different this morning than it has for the last several days. There are little mini whitecaps headed east. There are also a lot of fish headed east: 13926 Chinook and 1456 steelhead made it past Bonneville yesterday. All those big fish and little whitecaps will combine today for more wind than we’ve seen in a while. That said, there are a couple of factors of concern: first, the heat low is sitting right on top of the western Gorge. We’d like it to be in the desert. Second, there are an awful lot of lenticular clouds this morning, and they signify some sort of upper level disturbance, never a good sign for consistent wind. Continued after the chart…
| Your favorite beach | Dawn Patrol |
9am- 11:30a |
11:30a- 3pm |
3pm- dusk |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rooster Rock | back | to | bun | tanning | |
| Steven’s Locks | 13-16 | 20-23 | 24-27 | 24-27 | |
| Hatchery/White Salmon Sandbar (minus a few for Hood River) | 20-23 | 24-27 | 24-27? | 20-23 | |
| Doug’s, Lyle, Rowena | 15-18 | 21-24 | 25-29 | 25-29 | |
| Rufus, etc. | 15-18 | 21-24 | 25-29 | 25-29 | |
| Roosevelt, etc. | 15-18 | 21-24 | 25-29 | 25-29 | |
|
|||||
Gorge wind forecast, continued…
That said, we did start the day with westerly gradients of .11 (pdx-dls) and .06 (dls-psc) and wind speeds in the teens most places and low twenties near Swell. Models suggest we’ll see 23-26 pretty much everywhere by noon, with the wind rising to 25-29 from Rowena to Arlington this afternoon. Given the question marks in the forecast today, your best shot at wind will be the Rowena stretch, Avery, or Roosevelt in the afternoon. There’s a good chance the Viento-Hood River section will see gusty, up-and-down 23-26 today. Maybe we’ll get lucky and see decent, long-lasting wind at the Hatch, but I wouldn’t place money on it. Just cross your fingers and hope. Stevenson will start in the teens and rise to 24-27 this afternoon.
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Sunday sees more marine clouds in Portland but also sees a low pressure system off Vancouver Island. That low will dominate the picture, cutting the cross-Cascade gradient down. Expect 10-13 or less all day on Sunday through the entire Gorge. Nice day for road biking and fishing!
Monday starts off with 12-15 from Viento to Hood River and picks up to gusty 21-24 in the afternoon from Stevenson to Rufus. A cold front is forecast to swing through on Tuesday, maybe. If that happens, we’ll see gusty 24-27 after that system moves through.
Jones, Sauvie’s, Coast Beta Test Forecast
Jones Saturday: no. Sunday: 5-10. Monday: 10-13. Sauvie’s: nothin’ the next three days. Coast (north/central/south). Saturday: mostly calm, NW swell 5′ @ 9 seconds. Sunday: mostly calm, NW 4′ @ 7. Monday: south 10-15 everywhere, NW 3′ @ 11.
Mt. Hood Snow Forecast
There will be snow on the ground at Mt. Hood today, and every day until the glaciers completely melt away.
Random Morning Thoughts
I was curled up sleeping this morning when a small furry creature jumped on my chest, shoved her face into mine, and meowed and purred. This is pretty much a daily occurrence a few minutes after breakfast is dished out by the automatic feeder. Not speaking Cat, I interpret this as, “Thanks for the food. Now I’m craving some love.”
When I climbed out of bed, I realized that there wasn’t any food in the dish – I’d forgotten to fill the feeder last night. But I’ll tell ya, for the life of me, I couldn’t have told you the difference between the cat wanting food this morning and the cat wanting love on any other day.
Guess what? We humans do this too – we mix up our cravings. Sometimes we crave water and misinterpret that and eat food instead. We crave love and drink whisky. We crave meaning and instead of seeking it, we get high. We crave rest, and then we eat. We misinterpret the signals of our mind-body, don’t address the underlying need, and fall into a circle of increased cravings.
Generally speaking, we know when we “want” something. On many occasions, we don’t stop to see what we really want (or if we even need to satisfy that want!). It’s possible to feel a craving, stop, and see what it’s really about. Maybe that ice cream you’re craving is a sign of dehydration. Maybe that bowl you want to smoke is really a desire for close connection with other people. You’ll never know if you don’t stop to check it out. So, before you take action to satisfy a craving, spend a moment to explore it. You might be surprised what comes up. Have an awesome day.
Disclaimer required by my grad school program: I am not your therapist (but I could be in 700 days). I am your weather forecaster. Take everything I say with a grain of salt, and consult with your actual therapist about your mental health issues. One other thing: I plan to keep doing this forecast indefinitely, even when I am a therapist.
Gorge Weather Forecast
It’s a very warm start to the day as the heat low sits right over the top of the Gorge. In addition, there are a lot of lenticular clouds in the sky, indicating some upper level winds and moisture. Despite that, it’s not particularly muggy out there this morning (and certainly wasn’t yesterday, with 11% RH in the afternoon). Anyway, expect temps to climb into the upper 80’s today. Moderate wind. No rainbows. Sunday looks sunny with temps in the low 60’s early and mid 80’s in the afternoon. Light wind. No rainbows. Monday looks sunny with temps in the upper 50’s early and the low 80’s in the afternoon. Moderate wind. No rainbows.
For weather specifically directed at travel through the Gorge, please visit Temira’s Awesome Travel Advisory Service on Facebook.
White Sprinter Van of the Day
Road and Mountain Biking
Whoopdee and Hospital are closed through the end of fire season, whenever that turns out to be.
Upcoming Events
Today’s community events are the 8am trail run in Post Canyon, and the 9am women’s road bike ride from Mountain View Cycles. There’s an Enduro mountain bike race all weekend long at Mt. Bachelor. Coming up later today, the Hood River Waterfront hosts the Get Outside for Education Fundraiser, and White Salmon has Hot Summer Night in the Park. Tonight at dusk, the movie Star Wars, The New Hope is playing at Jackson Park.
Coming up tomorrow, we have the four free Sunday yoga classes: 9am at Samadhi in White Salmon, 10 at Meadows, 4 at Pure Yoga in The Dalles, and 6 at Pure Yoga in Hood River. There’s also pickup rugby and Ultimate Frisbee tomorrow.
Have an awesome day today!
Temira
