2/2 Forecast

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I took an entire day off on Monday. It was pretty amazing. Granted, I ran errands all day, but everything I did on Monday was by choice. As for why you didn’t get a forecast yesterday… to be honest, I was disheartened by what I saw. Clearly our snow dances and sacrifices aren’t working. We’re going to have to try something else. When I was in high school, my little sister used to burn her underwear to make it snow. It always worked. Our situation is almost as desperate as a teenager wanting a snow day off from school, so we may want to consider this.

Mountain Weather Forecast:

Today looks sunny and beautiful on Mt. Hood with high temperatures around 40°. Winds will be light and variable. A massive inversion is setting up, with the free air freezing level rising to 8000’ by this evening while temps remain in the 20’s in the Gorge.

The free air freezing level tomorrow will be around 9000’. Winds will pick up as an upper level low approaches Vancouver Island (unfortunately not Vancouver, WA, which would give us tons of snow). We’re probably going to see high clouds tomorrow with a chance of some light sprinkles in the evening. The wind tomorrow starts at W 15-25, picking up to NW 30-40 by 4pm.

Friday brings a chance of light rain, as a system swings north of us, fortunately. Total precip will be less than .25” from 4am Friday into 4am Saturday. The snow level starts at 8000’, falling to 5000’ by 7pm. Winds Friday will be WNW 30-35 in the morning, switching to NW 25-30 by 4pm.

The wet stuff continues Saturday, with intermittent light rain falling for much of the day. The snow level starts at 6500’, rising to 7000’ by 7pm. Total precip will be less than .25” as the bulk of the system’s energy stays north of us. Winds Saturday could be problematic at the resorts, starting off at WNW 25-30, rising to NW 35-45 by 1pm, rising more to 40-50 by 7pm. Free air winds above 5000’ will be 50+ all day.

Next week looks dry and cold, with yet another strong inversion setting up.

Pray. For. Snow. Please.

Mountain Biking Report:

Post Canyon is frozen hard, meaning it’s fast and fun if you can keep your fingers and toes warm. Syncline is going through melt-freeze and freeze-thaw cycles with the midday sunshine, so it’s best to leave it alone right now. I don’t have a report for Hospital, but since it’s mostly shady, it’s probably fast and fun.

Gorge Wind Forecast:

Strong easterlies in the 30-50 range this morning will fade a bit by afternoon. We’ll see light easterlies by tomorrow morning, switching to westerlies in the afternoon as a system tracks across the Canadian border. Westerlies should be sailable in the Corridor and Near East on Friday, with a big west wind day in the desert on Saturday. Very strong east winds return by Monday morning.

Temira

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