Thursday: Snow for Mt. Hood for the extended forecast.

Mt. Hood Snow Forecast

I’m not quite sure what happened up on Mt. Hood last night, but it looks like the bulk of the precipitation stayed just west of the Cascade Crest. That had a couple of results: instead of the mountain receiving 1.5” water value by this morning, only .5” has fallen. That means less rain (it rained 1/2” last night) but also just a trace of snow this morning. This is disappointing to both you and me. There’s still plenty of snow in the long-range forecast, but even those numbers have dropped a bit.

Anyway, for Thursday, the mountain will see light snowfall during the day and flurries overnight. The snow level will be 3500′, dropping to 1500′ after midnight. About .3” WV will fall during the day, for 2-4” of new snow. Just a trace will fall tonight. Wind will be SW 25-30 in the morning, SW 15 in the afternoon, and WSW 20-25 overnight.
Friday looks cloudy in the morning with light snow in the afternoon and heavy snow overnight. The snow level will be 1500′. A trace of snow will fall before 4pm. That will be followed by about .6” WV overnight, for 5-7” of additional snowfall by Saturday morning. Wind Friday will be WSW 20-25 early, SW 15 in the afternoon, and WNW 25 after midnight.

Orographic (terrain) effects will enhance snowfall on Saturday. As of right now, we’re looking at heavy snow during the day and flurries overnight. The snow level will be 1500′ for much of the day and 2500′ after midnight. The mountain will receive .5” WV during the day, for 5-7” of power. Light, fluffy powder! Another inch or so of new snow will fall after 4pm. Wind on Saturday will be WNW 25 all day, turning to SW 15-20 overnight.

Sunday brings a few more inches of snow, perhaps 4-7” for the 24 hour period. A couple more inches are in the forecast on Monday. For Tuesday, the GFS and ECMWF have very different ideas about the weather, or at least the path of an incoming low pressure system. The differences mean that any forecast past the weekend is going to be unreliable.
 

Random Morning Thoughts

It can be mighty hard to feel powerful in the face of systems of oppression or structural issues that we feel we cannot address. This morning, while contemplating life, I came across an article in the New York Times that talks about a group of hospitals that’s decided to combat predatory drug pricing by manufacturing and distributing scarce drugs.

This gives me hope. This is a project that has the power to create real and lasting change, and possibly to break the monopoly power of an entire system. Lives will be saved.

You and I may not have the power to combat systems of oppression on our own, but we do have the power to come up with ideas. Our ideas, presented to the right people, might inspire someone to think outside of the box, as did these hospital executives.

We counselor people often point out to people that the approaches they are trying now, the “same old” actions, haven’t worked before and aren’t working now. It appears our society has reached the same place: old systems no longer work. We need new ideas and new approaches. You, yes you, might just have a new idea that might work. What can you do to implement it? Have an awesome day.
 
Disclaimer required by my grad school program: I am not your therapist, but I am seeing clients at this time at Comprehensive Healthcare in White Salmon. In the meantime, 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. Forecasting and counseling are both deeply meaningful and nourishing to me.
 

Gorge Wind Forecast

For Thursday, we’ll have light wind wind through much of the Gorge all day. Areas west of Hood River will see inconsistent W 13-16. Friday looks like very light west wind all day. Saturday will start off with light westerlies. During the middle of the day, the wind will pick up to 12-15 in the western Gorge and 20-23 east of Hood River. After 2pm, the wind will fade to light westerly again.
 

Gorge Weather Forecast

It’s cloudy out there this morning, and will be cloudy and rainy through noon or so. After that we’ll have partly cloudy sky and sprinkles. Light west wind. 99% chance of rainbows. Friday looks cloudy with sprinkles in the morning and cloudy with rain in the afternoon. People above 1500′ will see snow Friday night. Light west wind. 14% chance of rainbows. Saturday looks rainy in the morning (with snow above 1500′) partly dry midday, and rainy in the afternoon. Moderate west wind. 99% chance of 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 Week

Road and Mountain Biking

Post Canyon is currently closed to all users to protect the trails from damage. Whoopdee is closed to bikes and horses for the same reason. Syncline remains mobbed. I’m not sure about the upper half of Nestor, but the Horse Camp section is in good shape with one tree down.
 

Upcoming Events

There’s free meditation at Trinity Natural Medicine at 6:15am. There’s free yoga at 8am at Flow. That’s followed by $5Tai Chi at the Hood River Adult Center at 2:30, community yoga at 6pm at Samadhi in White Salmon, and free Tai Chi at Our Savior Church in Bingen at 6:30. At 7am on Friday, there’s the Kickstand Coffee Run, where jogging or walking 4 miles gets you a free cup of coffee and a donut.
 
Click here for the full events calendar.
Have an awesome day today!
Temira