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The Forecast
| 4a-8a | 8a-12p | 12p-4p | 4p-8p | 8p-4a | |
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| Friday 1500′->4000′ |
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| Saturday 4000′->5500′->1500′ |
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| Sunday 1500′->2500′ |
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Mt. Hood Weather Forecast
I’ve been having a bit of trouble focusing on writing the forecast this morning because I’m excited for the season to start! And goodness, will we be off to a bang once we get going. Right now your friendly cat crews are hauling snow and building ramps and filling in low spots in anticipation of the fun starting. We’ll see snow today, snow tonight, a giant snowstorm (with caveats) on Saturday, and light snow for the following couple of days. That should get you your alpine turns and your XC exercise. Speaking of exercise: uphill travel within Meadows boundaries is over now. If you want to hike, you’ll need to use their designated hiking routes outside the ski area boundaries. No word from Teacup yet this morning, so the assumption is that they were unable to groom last night.
Let’s look at Friday. About a foot of new fell at 5000′ in the last 24 hours. Light to moderate snowfall continues through Friday night. The snow level will be around 1500′ to 2000′ all day. It’ll rise to 4000′ overnight as 850mb temps climb to the 0C to +1C range. We’re expecting about 0.4” water equivalent (WE) today for 4-5” powder. Daytime wind direction could add 20-30% to this total. Overnight, another 0.3” to 0.4” WE is in the cards for 3-4” additional snow that becomes more dense as the night goes on. Despite very strong wind, totals are unlikely to exceed exceptions as orographic effects will be limited. Wind: W 30 this morning, WNW 30-35 midday, WSW 20-40 this evening, and SW 35-65 overnight.
Now comes the fun: a cold front from the NW slams into the Northwest on Saturday morning. It taps into significant moisture with a tropical – but not too warm – origin. It still seems likely we’ll see a period midday where the snow may switch to snain, freezing rain, or snow grains. The snow level will be 4000′ early, 5000-5500′ midday when 850mb temps rise to +1C, 4500′ in the afternoon, 2000′ in the evening, and 1500′ after midnight. Approximately 2.0” WE is forecast during the day. That’s going to give us 15-20” new snow between 4am and 4pm even if accumulation lessens in the warm period. Overnight, another 0.7” WE is forecast, for 7-9” increasingly dry snow. We really couldn’t ask for better for base building! Wind: SW 35-65 in the morning, WSW 30-45 in the afternoon, W 40-50 in the evening, SW 20-35 around midnight, and W 35 after midnight.
Intermittent light snowfall is forecast on Sunday with a decent chance of a dry period midday. The snow level will be 1500-2000′ in the morning, 2500′ in the afternoon, and 2000′ overnight. About 0.2” WE is forecast during the day for a couple inches of new. Same overnight: 2” new snow. Wind: W 35 in the morning, SW 20-35 int eh afternoon, and SW 15-30 after midnight. A couple more inches of snow are forecast for Monday. After that, the weather turns cooler and more dry for several days leading to epic groomed conditions. Enjoy!
Gorge Wind Forecast
Active weather for the next few days will have a negative effect on your ability to get on the river. Friday starts with gradients of .05 and .04 with 5-10mph in the central Gorge, teens out east, and 15-20 at Viento. That pattern holds through early afternoon when the wind goes to light westerly with gusty 10-20 west of Bonneville Dam. River flow is 45,900cfs, river temp is 48F, and high temp forecast is 44F. Saturday starts with calm wind in the central Gorge with gusty 10-20 west of Bonneville (and pouring rain) and gusty 15-20 east of Blalock. Between 10am and 1pm, it’s possible the wind will pick up to gusty 20-30 east of Arlington, but it’s also likely to be raining out there. High temp: 48F. Sunday starts with calm wind in the central Gorge. West of Bonneville, you’ll find W 10-20. East of Avery, you’ll find gusty 14-17. After 1pm, the wind goes calm everywhere. High temp: 44F. Looking at next week, we see colder, less-wet weather with sub-freezing temps nearly every night by midweek.
Coast, Jones, Coast
Done until spring, unless there’s an obvious Coast or Sauvie’s or Jones day.
Hood River Weather Forecast
Drizzly weather this morning turns misty or intermittently wet and then drizzly or rainy this afternoon with steadier rain overnight. Temps will be near 40 early and in the mid 40’s later. Light westerlies. 99% chance of rainbows. Saturday will be very rainy through early afternoon then drizzly. Temps will be in the upper 30’s early and upper 40’s later. Calm wind or light westerlies unless the wind unexpectedly mixes to the surface. 16% chance of rainbows. Sunday starts rainy and then turns misty, dry in the afternoon, then drizzly in the evening and dry overnight. Temps will be in the mid 30’s early and mid 40’s later. Light westerlies become calm in the afternoon. 87% chance of 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
FREEZE-THAW ALERT: if you notice that temps were below freezing last night and will be above freezing today, don’t ride any trail that’s not under a tree canopy. If you do so, you WILL do significant damage. DON’T DO IT! Plentiful rain recently means most tree-covered trails are muddy. Please don’t ride them either. If you do, you’ll be doing significant and possibly permanent damage. No really, please don’t. There are lots of gravel roads and lots of pavement you can ride instead. Enjoy!
Local Events
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Have an awesome day!
