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Sunday. 9/29. Gorge wind. Rain. More rain. Rain records. Other things that I care about and you might not.

Thanks for being here all summer for the wind forecast. It’s fall now, and that means it’s time for … more windsurfing and kiting! No, it’s time to think about skiing.

You can get the best darned Mt. Hood snow forecast right here, all winter long, staring around November 15th. Bookmark this page. Come back for snow!

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Random Morning Thoughts
Yesterday evening was very wet. I think I’m rusting. Or melting. Because I’m so sweet, you know. Like sugar, I melt.

Wind guessings, prognosticatings and musings

As expected, the wind field came through after dark last night. We’re going to see a similar situation today, I’m afraid. Not to get too technical, but yesterday was a frontal passage and today is an upper low moving inland. This is a better setup for wind, and if it weren’t going to happen overnight, those of us who own a sub-3.0 sail would be sitting pretty. Or sailing pretty. Kiting pretty. You know what I mean.

So, as bits of energy from this low swing overhead today, we’ll see some westerlies early afternoon east of The Dalles (maybe east of Maryhill). However, it’s going to be short-lived, and if you drive for the early afternoon 25-29 bump out there (assuming it actually happens), you’ll likely be disappointed. As the low moves inland after 5pm, the wind will climb to 30-40+ east of The Dalles, with very up-and-down garbage can removal wind in the central Gorge. It will be dark when this happens. Dark and scary.

If we’re very, very lucky, there will be a few hours of leftover 28-32 tomorrow morning at Maryhill and Arlington before the wind fades. On Tuesday, expect westerlies at 15-18.

Today’s Gorge Wind
Your favorite beach Dawn
Patrol
9am-
11:30a
11:30a-
3pm
3pm-
dusk
Your favorite beach Dawn
Patrol
9am-
11:30a
11:30a-
3pm
3pm-
dusk
Steven’s Locks raining pouring old man
snoring
20-30
LATE
Hatch (subtract a few mph for Event Site) light light light 20-30
LATE
Doug’s / Rowena / Lyle light light light 25-35
LATE
Maryhill / Rufus / The Wall light light light 30-40
LATE
Arlington / Roosevelt light light light 30-40
LATE


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Plain old weather

On to actual, plain-old weather: You might have noticed it was a bit wet yesterday. Hood River set a record with 1.28” of rain at HOXO. Parkdale received 2.83” of rain. Today’s record is .58”, and that will fall too, if not during the day, then tonight, when it will pour. In case you were wondering, we are over average for the year in rainfall.

Models seem to think the bulk of the rain before 5pm today will stay within and west of the Cascade crest. That’s not to say it won’t rain in the central Gorge. It will. It just won’t pour until after 5pm. I’m tempted to head to The Dalles to ride my bike today. Hello Petersburg Loop. Must be winter in the Gorge.

In other interesting weather news, this upper level low I mentioned, well, it’s going to be around 975mb when it hits Vancouver Island. That’s winter strength. Pretty impressive for this time of year. Rare.

And in other news, it snowed down to about 6000′ last night with the passage of the cold front. The snow level will rise to 9000′ again today, before crashing down to 5500′ early tomorrow (after most of the precip has passed) and to 5000′ on Tuesday.

Out on the coast, it’s storm central, with storm warnings posted, hurricane-force winds expected, and surf rising to 23′ at 15 seconds. According to NOAA, this system is powerful enough for the surf to pick things up, dust them off, and “kill people”.

Stuff happening tonight, this weekend, and other stuff too

The rivers are responding nicely to all this rain. The White Salmon went from 1.5′ to 2′ yesterday. The Hood went from 4.99′ early yesterday to 5.7′ today. The Klickitat went from 750cfs to 1960cfs.

This tidbit is totally unrelated to sporting, except in one important way. When you eventually break yourself, you might want some health insurance so you don’t go broke. If you’ve been unable to get any for whatever reason, you may have an opportunity coming up. The Oregon Insurance Exchange goes live on Tuesday. You can browse starting then, and enroll in January. That said, I read a great article in the NY Times with a bunch of FAQs about the ACA/Obamacare. If you have questions, it’s a great resource.

I’ll leave you with next weekend’s events. On Friday and Saturday, the Mt. Hood Ski Patrol has their annual snowsports swap in Hillsboro, a long way away, but worth the trip for a good cause. Next Saturday is Take a Kid Mountain Biking Day in Cascade Locks, in the afternoon and evening at the EasyCLIMB trail. Then next Sunday, it’s the Ashland Super D bike race, and the annual Dirty Fingers Bike Shop customer campout, in Ashland, at the race.

Have an awesome day today!

Temira

By Temira

Temira Lital is a recreation and travel weather forecaster based in Hood River, Oregon. Temira uses they/them pronouns. They're also a mental health counselor. Temira bikes, skis, windsurfs, paddles a SUP, swims in mountain lakes, and loves gardening. Most recently they've taken up SUP foiling. Temira is powered by La Croix, protein, and beets.