Mt. Hood Snow Forecast
It’s Wednesday, and it’s raining up on Mt. Hood this morning. The rain will continue through the evening and then switch to snow around 8pm. The snow level today will be 9000′ early, 6500′ in the afternoon, 5000′ after 8p, and 2000′ or so after midnight. We’ll see up to 2” of rain between this morning and 5pm. With NW wind developing overnight, Mt. Hood will be favored for orographic snowfall in the wee hours of Thursday morning. Snow accumulations will likely be well over what the models predict, so let’s go with .8-1” water value (WV) between 5pm Wednesday and 5am Thursday. Some of that will fall as rain, but I think we’ll end up with 5-7” of new snow by Thursday morning. Wind on Wednesday will be WSW 30 for much of the day, turning to NW 30 after midnight.
Thursday’s models disagree about the weather, with one showing clear sky and the other suggesting a fair bit of snow. Given the strong NW wind, I’m going to take a risk and predict snow for Thursday rather than sunshine, at least for the daylight hours. After the sun goes down, the wind will drop and the sky will clear. The snow level on Thursday will be 2000′ early, rising to 4000′ after midnight. We’ll see about .5” WV during the day, for 5-6” of fluffy, windblown snow. Wind will be NW 30 for most of the day, WNW 30 in the evening, and N 10-15 after midnight.
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4a-8a | 8a-12p | 12p-4p | 4p-8p | 8p-4a |
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| Wednesday 9000′->2000′ |
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| Thursday 2000′->4000′ |
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| Friday 4000′->9000′ |
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Mt. Hood Snow Forecast, continued
Friday looks clear early and cloudy in the afternoon with a chance of sprinkles after midnight. In other words, you’d better get Thursday because the weather will deteriorate on Friday! The free air freezing level Friday will be 4000′ in the morning (with some areas of frost at lower elevations, btw), 7500′ in the afternoon, and 9000′ overnight. No measurable precip. Wind on Friday will be N 10-15 early, rising steadily during the day to NW 20 after midnight.
As of right now, it looks like we’ll see some light rain sprinkles Saturday morning with partly cloudy sky in the evening. The snow level will be 9000′ for much of the day, dropping to 5500′ after midnight. We’ll see about 1/4” rain during the day. Wind will be NW 20 in the morning, slowly fading to W 10 in the afternoon and evening. As of right now, Sunday looks snowy and windy.
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Gorge Wind Forecast
If you’re one of those people who likes strong wind, you can get excited about the extended (and often unreliable!) forecast. For today, Wednesday, we’ll have light and variable wind this morning. After 1pm or so, the wind will pick up to W 5-10 from Stevenson to The Dalles and W 13-16 east of The Dalles.
Thursday looks much windier as a low pressure system moves eastward and high pressure builds off the coast. We’ll see Dawn Patrol at 13-16+ in the western Gorge with 23-26 east of Mosier. It’s hard to tell exactly where the line of solid, not-gusty wind will end up tomorrow. For best results, head east of the low clouds after 11am. Best guess: W 28-32 from Mosier to Rufus with 25-29 at Arlington and Roosevelt. River flow is very high – 423kcfs, and temp is low – 44 degrees. Consider using a PFD and keeping an eye on your friends.
Saturday currently looks like W 13-16 or so, probably strongest from Swell to Doug’s. As of right now, we’re looking at steady 30-35 on Sunday and gusty 28-32 on Monday. That’s a long ways out to be forecasting, so it may change. That said, Sunday does look like a much better setup than Monday, so if you can only choose one of the two, plan for the former.
Jones, Sauvie’s, Coast Beta Test Forecast
If you click right here , you’ll find NOAA’s coast forecast.
Random Morning Thoughts
I’m not much of a hiker – I much prefer trail running or mountain biking – but I went for a hike with a friend from Portland yesterday. Now I can barely walk – my calves are so sore! This is a perfect example of why it’s important to mix up your exercise routine. While I can run 6 miles without any soreness the next day, I’m crushed from walking 6 miles.
Point one: do different activities and challenge your physical body. Do your regular activities at varying intensity levels and challenge your muscles and aerobic/anaerobic systems.
Point two: challenge your mind and worldview. Try new stuff. Our lives are busy, and this leads to complacency. We repeat the same activities and social interactions. If we want to grow as people, IMHO, we need to try out new things. Just as a new workout pushes our tolerance for workouts, new activities increase our tolerance of diversity. As an added benefit, trying new things will lower our anxiety about new experiences.
So, the next time someone asks you to try something new or different, give it a shot. Even if you don’t like it, you’ll increase your capacity to try other new things without fear. Life is an adventure. Go try stuff. Have an awesome day!
Disclaimer required by my grad school program: I am not your therapist (but I could be 40 graduate school credits from now). 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 raining, and shall rain all day with lessening rain late in the day. Temps will be in the mid 40’s early and the mid 50’s this afternoon. Light and variable wind early, light west wind later. 99% chance of rainbows. Thursday looks rainy early, sprinkly midday, and dry in the evening. Temps will be in the low 40’s early and the mid 50’s in the afternoon. Strong west wind. 99% chance of rainbows. Friday may start off with some frost, especially above 500′. After that, it’ll be a dry and sunny day. Temps will be in the upper 30’s early and the upper 50’s in the afternoon. Moderate westerlies. Sunshine. 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
Mountain bikers, you have the following options: Syncline, Sandy Ridge, Gorge 400, and Easy CLIMB (Cascade Locks), Columbia Hills (trail condition unknown). Road bikers, you have everything under 2000′. The Gorge Roubaix and Gravel Grinder are this weekend.
Upcoming Events
It’s Wednesday morning. There’s community meditation at Flow at 8:15. There’s community yoga at the FISH food bank at 10am. There’s ping pong at the Hood River Armory at 5pm and Zumba at the Parkdale Community Center at 6:30pm.
Looking ahead to the weekend, the Gorge Roubaix bike race is on Saturday, and the Gorge Gravel Grinder ride is on Sunday. That should be awesome with 30-35mph west wind on Sunday. Pacific Hermitage is having a garden party on Saturday – meal at 11, work party at 1, tea with monks at 3.
Have an awesome day today!
Temira
