7/29 forecast

Good morning!

This week’s forecast is brought to you by the Sandbar Café, located at the east end of the Event Site, and open daily during the summer from 11am to 7pm. It’s going to be windy today, and you’re going to be kiting down there or slalom sailing, so wander by and say hi to kitchen maestro and musician, Crazy Pete. The Event Site is a great place to watch the sunset, so grab a friend, and head to the Sandbar Café this evening for $2.50 tall boys and a beautiful sunset. Sandbar Café has donated 5 fish taco and Tall Boy combos for this week’s giveaway. Score!

Today brings another round of west wind as a weather disturbance pushes east of the Cascades. The early gradient was at .10 from Portland to The Dalles, enough for 10-15 miles per hour at sunrise. There’s not much marine clouds this morning, so heating in Portland will limit the wind today. However, we’ll see 17-21 at the Hatchery and 14-17 at Stevenson and the Sandbar.

Tomorrow looks windier, as a low pressure trough at the coast pushes more marine clouds inland. Westerlies start off in the upper teens near Hood River tomorrow, building to the 22-26 range in the afternoon.

At this point, the weekend looks windy. Temperatures dropping into the 70’s in Portland on Saturday and Sunday should cause west winds to pick up into the 24-28 range. If you’re thinking of heading to the coast this weekend, you might be better here, as it looks marginal out there, with 10-15 knots and a 7 foot swell the call both Saturday and Sunday.

If you’re looking for things to do off the water, the Hood River County Fair is on through Saturday. If you want to go mountain biking, be prepared for a dusty beatdown on the local trails. Even so, the Post and Pint is on for tonight, with a lap around Post Canyon with the Dirty Fingers Bike Repair crew. Speaking of biking, tomorrow is the Disco Divas ride, a mountain bike ride for women. Contact Barb at barbaralmurphy@hotmail.com if you’re interested in going.

Boaters, the White Salmon’s at 2 1/4 feet and the Klickitat’s at 1040 cfs.

Coming up this weekend, there’s the Gorge Cup Challenge at the Event Site. It’s a two day regatta featuring downwind slalom and course racing depending on conditions. This event is part of the US Windsurfing National Racing Tour and is the Gorge Cup Season Finale. It feature as “run what you bring” class where no special gear of experience is necessary.

Temira

p.s. If you find this report useful, entertaining, or just want 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. This week it’s fish tacos and tall boys for 5 people, donated by the Sandbar Cafe. Thank you for using this report, and thank you for your support!