Thursday: westerlies, snow for the mountain, and heat next week.

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CoronaChat
All across the land, jurisdictions are starting to open up. That seems to be confusing some people. Let’s have an example. Multnomah County is still under “stay home, save lives” orders. Hood River County has entered Phase 1. Does that mean you should drive from one county to another or across state lines to access bars, restaurants, hair cuts, massages, or to have a party? NO!

If you’re still under a “stay home” order, that’s because your community has circulating coronavirus. If you travel to another county that was able to open, you might be bringing the virus with you. You could be the source of a reinstated “stay home” order for that county. Eeek. You don’t want that on your conscience, do you? Follow the orders of the place you live, not the place you want to go. Under normal times, your city residency brings you benefits that rural folks don’t have. Right here, right now, rural residents have some benefits that city folks don’t. Breathe. Accept these differences. Have patience. Stay home, save lives.

The Forecast

Your favorite beach	Dawn Patrol	9am- 11:30a	11:30a- 3pm	3pm- dusk
Today’s Gorge Wind – these are ranges for the average speed, not a predicted wind range. =)
Rooster Rock	beach	closed	buns	clothed
Steven’s Locks	G14-18	G14-18	G14-18	G14-18
Swell-Hood River	G14-18	G14-18	G14-18	G14-18
Doug’s, Lyle, Rowena	G14-18	G14-18	G14-18	G14-18
Rufus, etc.	25-28	25-28	27-31	27-31
Roosevelt & Arlington	25-28	25-28	27-31	27-31

Gorge Wind Forecast

Oregon and Washington are encouraging people to not travel to access recreation, and all land managers and law enforcement are carefully watching to see if people maintain social distancing. If crowding happens, water access will be revoked. If you are local and lucky enough to have water access in your community, please do this: rig, play, leave. Recreate and go home. That’ll help limit the spread of Novel Coronavirus. If you live in a place that’s still under a stay at home order, stay home – follow the guidance of where you live, not where you want to go.

Coastal high pressure remains locked in place at 1030mb today. Inland low pressure sits over Saskatchewan. That’ll draw the westerlies through the Gorge, not as strong as yesterday, but still plenty for a good day on the river. Western Gorge launches will be under clouds and sprinkles today. Expect gusty 14-18, more or less, from Stevenson to Rowena all day. Areas east of there start at 25-28 and rise to 27-31. River flow is 350kcfs (that’s really too much for the Rufus stretch), and river temp is 54 degrees.

Friday starts with 7-11 in the west and 15-18 east of The Dalles. Low clouds stick around all day in the western Gorge. The wind there will be limited to 13-16. From Avery to Biggs, we’ll see the wind pick up to gusty 25-29 in the afternoon. Arlington: 22-25. Sunshine returns on Saturday along with warmer weather. You can thank inland high pressure for that and also curse it for knocking down the wind speed. Expect 10-13 everywhere, all day long. Sunday’s wind holds in the 7-10ish range most of the day. A weak weather system crawling towards the Gorge in the afternoon nudges the speeds up to gusty 18-23 from Stevenson to Doug’s.

Jones, Sauvie’s, Coast: this portion is waiting for those counties to be ready for visitors. They are still under ‘stay home, save lives’ orders. Please respect their wishes and do not travel there to recreate.

Open/Closed Launch Site List -All restrooms are closed!

Washington:
Skamania County – Phase two, recreate with 5 or less people outside household
Stevenson East Point, Bob’s Beach, Boat ramp: all open
Home Valley: Closed
Swell City: closed
Spring Creek Hatchery: Closed
Klickitat County – Stay at home order in place. Only recreate with household members
Wunderbar: high water
Bingen Point: Open
Lyle: you have to cross private property to access
Doug’s Beach: Closed
Avery: Open
Maryhill: Park closed. Boat ramp open.
The Wall: Closed
Roosevelt: Open

Oregon: Phase one for Hood River, Wasco, Sherman, Gilliam counties – recreate with 10 or fewer friends from the county
Rooster Rock: Closed
Viento: Closed
The Hook: open
Waterfront Park: Closed
Event Site: Closed
The Spit: Open
The Marina: Open
Boat ramp: open
Mosier: Only open for residents of 97040
Rowena: Closed
Celilo: Closed. Boat ramp open
Rufus: Closed
Arlington: Open
Threemile: Open

Mt. Hood Weather Forecast

Timberline is open with exemplary guidelines for protecting guests and staff from the transmission of novel coronavirus. Please read their guidelines and rules here. Well done, T-Line! The Mt. Hood weather forecast will be on vacation unless something interesting happens in the weather up there. Some of you will be tempted to go out backcountry skiing. Please don’t – accidents do happen, and you may put others at risk. Timberline is allowing uphill access outside the permit area on the climbers’ trail ONLY. No uphill traffic is allowed at Meadows.

Hood River Weather Forecast

Intermittent showers fall in Hood River all day, likely increasing during the afternoon. Temps will be in the upper 40’s early and upper 50’s later. Moderate westerlies. 100% chance of rainbows. Friday looks mostly cloudy with a few scattered raindrops possible but not likely. Temps will be in the low 40’s early and upper 50’s later. Moderate westerlies. 1% chance of rainbows. Saturday looks dry and mostly sunny. Temps will be in the low 40’s early and near 70 in the afternoon. Light west wind. No rainbows. Looking for a complete Columbia Gorge forecast? Looking for more humor in your weather? Obscenities? You’re looking for my TATAS: Temira’s Awesome Travel Advisory Service on Facebook.

Cycling

Trail update: Post open to residents of HR County. No parking in HRC forests (staging areas, or anywhere). Syncline/Coyote Wall: CLOSED (it’s in the scenic area, and all those trails are closed – you risk a parking ticket or more if you’re there). Mt. Hood National Forest: trailheads and developed areas CLOSED. Trails: open if you can park somewhere that’s not a trailhead. Surveyor’s, Dog River, and Oak Ridge open according to Strava. Kreps/SDS: open. Sandy Ridge: Open. Nestor Peak: open. Columbia Hills State Park: CLOSED. Skamania County trails outside the scenic area: open. Ape Canyon: Closed. Falls Creek: too snowy to ride as of five days ago per an email I received.

Current lawful social distancing requirements: only people from your household in Klickitat County. Only household members if you’re from Multnomah, Clark, or other ‘stay at home’ counties. Up to 5 friends in Skamania County. Up to 10 in Hood River County.