7/19 forecast. It’s windy again. Darn.

Good morning!

This week’s report is brought to you by the Gorge Surf Shop at 13 Oak Street in downtown Hood River. The Gorge Surf Shop has the best windsurfing gear: Fanatic and Tabou boards, and Gaastra and Maui Sails. Why should you shop there? Because the employees at the Gorge Surf Shop have the best attitude, and attitude is everything. Swing by and say hello to Darko, Transatlantic, Garrison, Recently and Slice, and maybe, if you’re lucky, Scotty will give you a nickname of your own. We don’t know yet what this week’s giveaway will be, so we’ll call it the super-special prize of the week!

We just had a super windy weekend on the Columbia, and the wind is still blowing hard this morning. The early gradient was .16 from Portland to The Dalles, and the wind was blowing in the upper twenties at the Hatchery for the Dawn Patrol session. That’s driven by a weak system working its way through BC this morning. There are less marine clouds this morning, and Portland will clear off earlier, so strongest wind will be early today, near Hood River. 27-32 this morning fades to 22-26 this afternoon from Stevenson out to Doug’s. If I had to pick a spot to be today, I’d pick the Hatchery or Sandbar this morning. Right now… 5:12am… (however, being saner than that, I am going back to sleep as soon as I’m done forecasting)

A low pressure trough moves over the Northwest tomorrow, weakening pressure gradients across the Cascades. Even so, a solid marine push will drive west winds in the 17-21 range.

If you need something to do after work tonight, as always, there’s the alternative ride out of mountain view cycles, leaving the shop at 6:30, and there’s free Tai Chi at Wilson Park in Hood River, starting at 6pm. I heard a rumor of a kickball game accompanied by free beer through Everybody’s Brewing this evening, but was unable to confirm that rumor. If you’re interested, give them a call…

Coming up tomorrow night, there’s a latte art contest at Dog River Coffee starting at 5pm. That’s followed by a dance party. Now, I know coffee isn’t exactly recreation, but I can’t live without it, so the latte art contest is recreation in my book. And besides, I bet the majority of you fuel your recreation with caffeine, so you can’t argue with me. Arthur and I are judging this event, so stop by and say hello!

Boaters, the White Salmon’s at 2.35 feet and the Klickitat’s at 1240 cfs. If you’ve been wanting to do a rafting trip, and you’ve been holding out for Husum Falls, Wet Planet and the other other companies are now running it. If you want to boat the Lower with me today, drop me a note. I need a paddling partner!

Have an awesome day today!

Temira

p.s. If you find this report useful, entertaining, or just happen to recognize all the hard work that goes into it, please take the time to make a donation by clicking on the button at the bottom of the page. For a suggested donation of $10, I’ll add you to the email version of this list ‘til May 2011, putting you in the running for cool prizes donated by the weekly sponsors. Thank you for using this report, and thank you for your support!