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Before you read on, please remember that this report (wind, snow and events, year round, almost every day – WOW!) is brought to you free of charge. It’s my hobby, but it’s valuable to you, and I do put it out here free so you can arrange your schedule around play, and so you don’t waste money driving around. But there are five times as many people using the forecast for free as there are making donations. We all know windsurfers and kiters and skiers can make a small donation to keep a good thing going. So we’re trying something through Labor Day. It’s a fun game! I offer this forecast as an email subscription for a minimum $12 yearly donation. That gets you in the running for a few prizes here and there, and from now on it’ll give you consistency. A forecast (almost) every day, written by just one person. Wow. She must be nuts! Here’s the scoop: If I get donations totaling $15 or more on a given day, I’ll post a forecast the next day. If not, only the people on the mailing list get the forecast. So, let’s see what happens, and thank you for your support!
Tomorrow’s (8/1) forecast status: 
As of 12:04pm.
Thank you P.B. for the donation.
I do have some nice business sponsors who give away prizes for my email recipients, people who’ve donated. This week’s is Celilo Inn. When you’re visiting The Gorge, you need a place to stay. Hood River’s a little short on hotel rooms and vacation rentals, as you may have noticed. There’s another option: The Dalles, up-and-coming with yummy food and fun bars with a we-live-here-not-just-vacation-here vibe. Where do you stay? Celilo Inn on the east hill above town, with spectacular views of the river and the dam and locks. Suite rooms with views of the Columbia. Big pillow-top mattresses. A pool. A fire pit. A mini gym. Adventure packages with whitewater rafting and wine tours. And it’s not just for tourists: Celilo Inn can give you locals an escape from the crazy summer bustle of Hood River. We’re giving away a couple of nights to people who’ve donated $12 or more. See… another reason to support this report.
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It’s Tuesday, and that means it’s your chance, if you’re a gal, to try standup paddling for free courtesy of Big Winds. Weather permitting, meet at the Big Winds shack tonight at 5:30 to give this sport a try. Also tonight, at 6pm, it’s the Hood River Triathlon Club’s weekly workout at 6pm at the Event Site.
Starting Wednesday, it’s Sportbike Northwest in Stevenson, with five days of motorcycle seminars, classes, and of course riding on the great curvy roads of the Gorge. For more information on which roads will be crowded with motorcycles on a given day, check out soundrider.com.
In wind news today, despite not much being on last night’s round of models, this morning’s are more promising and so is the wind on the river. At 6:30, it was glassy in Hood River and 25mph at the Hatchery, with a .10 gradient driving the west wind. With clouds stacked up to the west of the Hatchery, and models predicting the wind to hold much of the day, it’s looking like we’ll see a decent day on the river. Since we’re starting with 25, let’s call it 23-26 this morning, with a chance of brief 26-30 between 10am and noon. Then, a midday lull due to cloud burnoff drops things back to 21-23 in the Corridor in the early afternoon before the wind picks up to 24-28 at Doug’s and Rowena this afternoon.
Tomorrow looks almost identical to today, but with 1-2mph off the peak wind speeds of today.
Thursday looks like 15-18, rising to 17-21 midday and holding through the afternoon.
The long term forecast seems to show a switch to east wind on Friday, light wind on Saturday, and a return to moderate west wind on Sunday, but that’s really too far out to be doing more than guessing.
But, we do have the Bridge of the Gods amateur kiteboarding event coming up either Saturday or Sunday, which is often a cue for the wind to shut down. Cross your fingers, everyone, for wind on the weekend.
Have an awesome day today!
Temira