11/18 forecast

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Good morning!

Do you have your snow tires on yet? No? Do it today. There is a chance we won’t see snow in the Gorge tomorrow, but we’ll almost certainly see some on Saturday. And if you don’t have a down jacket, you’re going to want to buy one by Sunday, as arctic air is headed our way.

But that’s not what you’re waiting to hear. You want to know if Meadows is going to open this weekend. As of this morning, 21” had fallen in this storm (yes, 21” in 17 hours, which explains why your gutters were overflowing last night). This is pretty short notice to get the mountain open by Saturday (they have to pack down the snow, set up all the boundary lines, do avy control, set up the lift ramps, etc, and those are hard tasks to complete when it’s snowing 1-2” an hour). However, with next week looking dry and cold, with no more snow by Thanksgiving, it wouldn’t make sense to wait another week to open. My guess is either Saturday or Sunday will be opening day.

In the snow forecast, another 8-10” should fall tomorrow, and then another 3-5” Saturday and 1-3” Sunday. After that, it’s looking pretty dry. Snow levels will be at or below 2000 feet for the extended forecast.

If you want wind, you’re waiting until Saturday for the easterlies to kick in, and it will likely be below freezing by then.

Boaters are pretty stoked now. The Hood peaked at 6.15 feet last night and is around 5.8 right now. If you haven’t taken a look at the new rapid that replaced the dam (it’s off Copper Dam Road), it’s worth swinging by to check it out. At this level, it’s going to be big. The White Salmon was at 2.75 last night, and is probably over 3 feet now. The Klickitat is at 1100 cfs, a very fun level.

Don’t forget that the Fashion Show is this Friday at the Hood River Inn, benefitting the Christmas Project, so if you haven’t purchased your ticket, you should do so now. Head downtown and pick up your tickets at 2nd Wind or many or the other stores.

Have an awesome day today!

Temira

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