Thursday: brrrrrrrrr!!! - The Gorge is my Gym

The best snow forecast for Mt. Hood. The best wind forecast for the Gorge.

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The Forecast

	4a-8a	8a-12p	12p-4p	4p-8p	8p-4a
Mt. Hood Snow Forecast – 5000′
Thursday 0′
Friday 0′
Saturday 0′->3000′->0′

Mt. Hood Snow Forecast

Well. Reality certainly beat the models yesterday both on the mountain and in the metro area. The resorts picked up about 15” of Continental, 4% water content powder. Why? Well, a low pressure system set up right at the mouth of the Columbia. That’s ideal for 1) pulling in cold air from the Gorge, and 2) dumping precipitation on the metro area and the mountain. All models had that system moving south much quicker than it did. But it didn’t, obviously. Anyway, we’ll have some lingering flurries this morning (it’s already starting to clear on Mt. Hood) with bitterly cold temps and super-dry champagne powder. Cold packed powder sticks around for the next couple of days. Our next snowstorm arrives on Sunday. Long-range models keep the weather cool and generally a bit on the damp side. In other words, the snowsports action should stay awesome for the long haul.

Thursday is bitterly cold and should feature epic powder in areas that were not open yesterday. Bundle up and cover all exposed skin. Frostbite could happen in 30 minutes or less; it was -2F at 6500′ to start the day and just 4F in the “warmer” Nordic zone. Light accumulation, less than an inch, is forecast for the slopes with the snow level at 0′ all day. The wind will only make things colder: E 20-25 all day and all night.

Friday will be mostly sunny and very cold in the morning. The free air freezing level (FAF) will be 0′ all day. Temps start near zero in the morning and rise to the teens in the afternoon. Wind: E 20-25 in the morning, E 15 in the afternoon, and SW 5-10 overnight.

Saturday will be sunny and warmer. High clouds move in late, and snow starts in the wee hours of Sunday. Saturday’s free air freezing level will be 0′ in the morning, 3000′ in the afternoon, and back to 0′ overnight. Temps will be in the upper 20’s. Wind: SW 5-10 early builds to SW 15-25 in the afternoon and WSW 40 after midnight. Models call for 0.5” to 1.2” water equivalent on Sunday with the snow level no higher than 2000′. This looks like a nice storm skiing day; as of this morning, it doesn’t appear the wind will be strong enough to affect lift operations other than the highest and most exposed lifts. As mentioned earlier, the extended forecast looks great for accumulating snow!

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Gorge Wind Forecast

It’s too cold to get on the water, but the wind forecast can serve other purposes today. We starts with 40-50 at Rooster and stay that way. Stevenson: 30ish. Viento: 20-25. Hood River: 5ish. Eastern Gorge: 10-15. All that wind will make for bitterly cold wind chills. River flow is 153kcfs, river temp is 38F, and high temp forecast is 25F. Friday starts with 40-50 at Rooster and 20-30 at Stevenson with 5-10 east of Hood River. Afternoon wind holds at Stevenson and drops to 30-40 at Rooster. High temp: 30F. Saturday starts with 15-25 at Stevenson and 20-30 at Rooster. The wind turns light and variable at Rooster and drops to 5-10 at Stevenson. High temp: 40F.

Jones, Sauvie Island, Coast – Done for the Season

Hood River Weather Forecast

Light snowfall this morning tapers off later and leaves us with partly cloudy sky. Temps will be in the upper teens early and mid 20’s later. Easterlies. No rainbows. Friday will be partly cloudy to mostly clear. Temps start in the low double digits and rise to the upper 20’s. Easterlies. No rainbows. Saturday will be sunny and then high overcast. Snow moves in after midnight. Temps will be in the teens early and low 40’s later. Easterlies. 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.

Local-ish Events

Please let me know of outdoor-related local-ish events. If you don’t tell me, I don’t know!
Regular weekly events: NK Studios in Bingen has a donation-based yoga class at 7:30am every Tuesday. Ferment’s Tuesday night 4-mile walk/run is at 6pm. There’s meditation with monks at 5:15pm (an hour) and 6:30pm (30 minutes plus a talk) at Yoga Samadhi in White Salmon. At 7:15am on Wednesdays, there’s a run from the White Salmon Bakery. At 7am on Friday morning, there’s a run from Pine Street Bakery. On Fridays at 2:30pm, there’s a free meditation and stretching class at Yoga Samadhi. There’s a weekly group paddle to the Event Site on Sunday at 11 am followed by a free pint at the fire pit at Ferment. That’s the “Paddle n’ Pint”. Also: Wednesday Paddle Sprints at the Event Site at Noon.

Cycling

Well, now the trails are going to be frozen solid. That makes for good riding if you can avoid the invisible icy spots. On the off chance that things thaw later this week under sunny sky, don’t ride. Be prepared to turn around due to freeze-thaw mud. If it was below freezing the night before your ride, don’t ride trails that are exposed to the open air. Those trails will have freeze-thaw conditions, and you’ll do major damage. Consider gravel riding! If you’re parking at Post Canyon, you will need a parking pass. Those can be purchased at many local shops or online.