Tuesday: strong wind. fire danger. trail closures.

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Gorge Wind Forecast

We’ve moved out of the heat wave doldrums into an extended period of strong west wind. Just because it’s windy doesn’t mean it won’t be hot – temps will still top 100F in Hood River today, and they’ll top 110F in The Dalles.

Dawn patrol starts with 17-21 from Viento to Mosier with 7-11 in Stevenson, 11-14 to The Dalles, and light/variable wind in the eastern Gorge. Gradients are 0.10 (pdx-dls) and .00 out east. We’ll see the wind build to 21-24 from Stevenson to Mosier late morning with 13-16 from Lyle to The Dalles. It’s likely there will be a short lull early afternoon . That’s followed by increasingly strong westerlies; peak wind will be gusty 26-20 this evening from Stevenson to Rufus. The wind will blow all night long. River flow is 199kcfs, river temp is 66F, and high temp forecast for Hood River is 102F.

Marine clouds push deep into the western half of the state on Wednesday morning. Hood River stays clear, most likely, setting up a nuking Dawn Patrol. Westerlies should be 30-35 right off the bat from Viento to Mosier with gusty 15-20 under the clouds in Stevenson and 26-30 from Lyle to Threemile. You have your pick of launches; it’ll be nuking windy everywhere from Stevenson to Threemile (maybe Boardman too) pretty much all day. High temp: 93F in Hood River and 104F in Arlington.

Nuking westerlies continue on Thursday thanks to strong offshore high pressure and the inland heat low. Dawn Patrol is set for 28-33 from Viento to Mosier with 25-29 from Lyle to Boardman. One possible hiccup: marine clouds might make it all the way to Hood River. That will shift the Dawn Patrol to Mosier-Rufus. Just wait a couple hours, and you’ll have 28-33 from Stevenson to Arlington. Models hint at an afternoon lull to gusty mid-20’s from Stevenson to Hood River. Just move yourself east if that happens; westerlies host at 28-33+ from Mosier to Arlington through sunset.

Current predictions for the holiday weekend are this: Friday tops out with 26-29; Saturday and Sunday bring 24-27. Monday looks a little stronger, but an approaching front will make it gusty. A couple of notes: it appears Hood River (and other municipalities) will be banning fireworks this year. That’s good news: this much wind combined with extremely dry fuels will make for extreme fire danger. Please be very careful if you’re visiting from elsewhere and camping, or if you are a smoker. Also important: each of us needs to help keep others from setting fires. Please speak up if you see anything unsafe while you’re at the launches, in the parking lots, or camping. And have fun on the river!  

Coast, Jones, Coast (north/central/south, waves. Wind Coast (north/central/south, waves. Wind direction north unless otherwise noted. Swell forecast from NWS.) Tuesday: SW 10-15/SW 15-20/S 15-20, W swell 4′ at 10 seconds. Wednesday: LTW/LTW?N 20-25+, W 6′ @ 9. Thursday: 15-20/15-20/30-35, NW 6′ @ 9. Jones Tuesday: 16-19. Wednesday:10-13. Thursday: 14-17. Sauvie’s Tuesday: 11-14. Wednesday: 14-17. Thursday: 11-14.  

Mt. Hood Weather forecast

On vacation unless some wintry weather happens.  

Hood River Weather Forecast

Tuesday will be sunny and muggy. Temps will be in the mid 70’s early and low 100’s later. Moderate westerlies in the morning. Strong westerlies later. No rainbows. Wednesday will be sunny. Temps will be in the upper 60’s early and low 90’s later. Very strong westerlies. No rainbows. Thursday starts partly cloudy (thank you, marine air) with temps in the mid 60’s. Afternoon temps rise to the low 90’s. Strong westerlies. 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

SDS, BLC, HFM, DGS, Kreps Ranch, etc will be closing their timberlands to Public Recreation Access starting Saturday, July 3rd at 0001 AM. This closure comes early in the season and means Hospital Hill and Whoopdee are closed to public recreation. It is also vital that people respect this closure to maintain positive relationships between the landowners and trail users.

Trail guesses: Whoopdee, dry; Post, dry; 44 Road, dry. Falls Creek: good. From the 44trails.org website… Open trails: Eightmile, Fifteenmile, Bottle Prairie, Dog River, Superconnector, Cedar, Knebal, Cooks (to 1.5 miles above the 4410 road), 450 to the junction with 15 mile, Underhill. Upper 450: patches of snow and 10 trees down.

Maple Road in Post Canyon is closed. DO NOT drive past the closed signs. If you do so, you will jeopardize TRAIL access for the entire summer. This is the road that runs to the west, just north of the Binns/Riorden intersection. Also, the trail from the bottom of Post Canyon to Seven Streams Staging Area is now closed. It’s on private land. Respect the closure. Surveyor’s Ridge: clear of snow and trees. Other 44 Road Trails: clearing in progress. Cows are out on Hospital Hill. No parking at the corral. No dogs on the trails. No exceptions. Please respect the wishes of the landowners – they let us use their land, and in return, we respect their rules! New Whoopdee: open.  

Local Events

Coming up Saturday, CGW2 has a swap meet at Lot 1 on the Hood River Waterfront. Pacific Hermitage has a garden party the same day. Mountain View Cycles women’s ride is every Thursday, bottom of Post at 5:30pm. They have an all-genders ride at 6pm on Wednesday, end of the pavement on Post Canyon Road. Their shop road ride leaves at 9am on Saturday for a 2 hour ride. Dirty Fingers has the Post n’ Pint on Thursday evenings at 5:30pm from the shop. They also have the women’s Post n’ Pinot Wednesday evening at 5:30pm from the shop. Oregon E-Bikes has ladies’ rides at 7:30am Sunday and Monday. The Small Boat Group does paddles every Thursday evening at 6pm. Hatch laps are the latest thing they do.

Other weekly events. Tuesday night there’s meditation with the Pacific Hermitage Monks at 5:15 (1 hour) and 6:30 (30 minutes followed by a talk) at Yoga Samadhi in White Salmon. Triathlon practice with the Tri Club is Tuesday at 6pm at West Mayer State Park. Sailboat races happen Wednesday night from the Hood River Marina.  

Sprinter Van of the Week!

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