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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 put it out here free so you can make the most of your free time. 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. You can get this forecast as an email for $12. That gets you in the running for a few prizes here and there, and from now on it’ll give you consistency (on the 98% of days I write a forecast. Admit it, that’s pretty amazing for one chick working by herself!). 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. Thanks for understanding that I have to make a living, and thank you for your support!
Tomorrow’s forecast status: 
Um… sorry… got distracted by A+ windsurfing today. 5:15pm.
Today’s sponsor: The Trek Dirt Series for Women. On August 11-12, the Trek Dirt Series and Mountain View Cycles will team up to host a two-day women’s specific mountain bike instructional camp right here. You’ll learn all kinds of mountain bike technical skills so you can be a better, more confident rider. It’s a super inspiring and supportive environment, the coaching is individualized and professional, and the weekend is just plain fun. I’ve heard tons of great things about the Dirt Series. If you have the time and can afford it, you should sign up. The deadline is noon today.
It’s going to be quite windy in the Gorge today as a weather system moving east early this morning drags clouds into Portland and sets up a nice pressure gradient across the Gorge. That will give us west wind at 25-29 this morning near Hood River and at Mosier too, with less wind to the east. As the clouds burn off in Portland this afternoon, we’ll see westerlies drop to 23-26, but they’ll fill in all the way from Stevenson to The Dalles.
In addition, it’s worth mentioning that the dynamic nature of this setup could make the wind gusty and inconsistent today. I was really hoping it would have cleared the area by this morning, but sadly, it hasn’t. So, all I can say is that you should get on the water now, early, while it’s definitely windy.
Weather models for tomorrow are being inconsistent, but with high pressure building in and notherly upper flow developing, the wind will back off. Expect west wind at 15-18 really early in the morning, with calm wind in the upper valley for the farmers reading this and the road bikers too. The wind will back off to 5-10 or less by early afternoon. Sunday starts off calm, but westerlies pick up to 15-18 late in the afternoon. The weekend hot spell breaks down Monday for stronger westerlies. We’ll have to wait until Monday is closer to see just how strong.
If you want Coastal, it’s now open in The Dalles. Ok, joking aside, it’ll be windy at the coast today and tomorrow, with 15-18 north and 20-25 central. On Saturday and Sunday, we’ll get 20-25 north and 25-30 central. However, wind is all you’ll have out there, as it’s basically flat, with a NW swell at 2′.
Events the next few days include family sailboat races at the Hood River Marina and the Wizard of Oz at Cascade Locks movies in the park tonight. Tomorrow is Toy Story 3 at Jackson Park in Hood River in the evening, the Wild Woman offroad marathon, and ice-cream making at the Parkdale library from noon-2pm. On Sunday (I know I said Saturday before. It’s Sunday), there’s a cleanup at the White Salmon Sandbar at 2pm and the OBRA short-track bike racing championships in Cascade Locks.
Have an awesome day today!
Temira