Thursday: quite the storm skiing day for y’all!

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

Thank you for using this forecast. Like it? Find it useful? Support it (and me!) by sending some cash my way. What’s it cost to support me and get the email version? Not $99 a year. Nope. Not $49. Just $19.99 or more gets you a year. People are added to this list on Thursday and Sunday. My day job is crisis mental health, and I don’t have time on other days. Thanks for your patience! Click below to contribute. Thank you!!

Auto-renewing subscription. Easy. Awesome. Set and forget!

Thank you for contributing and keeping this forecast going! Not ready to subscribe?
No problem – please share this forecast with all your friends too! I appreciate your support!

Or… Try the email free until the end of this month

The Forecast

	4a-8a	8a-12p	12p-4p	4p-8p	8p-4a
Mt. Hood Snow Forecast – 5000′
Thursday 500′->1500′->0′
Friday 0′->1500′->0′
Saturday 0′->1000′->0′

Mt. Hood Snow Forecast

If you, like me, are a skate skier, you’ll be hard-pressed to find just the right conditions over the next few days. If you’re heading for lift serve snowboarding or skiing or backcountry riding, you’ll be very, very happy. (Forecaster dusts off their Tele gear… actually, it’s in the car from last week!) Actually, after further review, there’s something for everyone in this forecast except for those of you who like corn snow. You’ll be waiting a good long while for that!

Thursday is one for the storm riders. Very strong west wind is in the forecast along with at least half a foot of new snow. The snow level will be 500′ near Mt. Hood in the morning (2500′ elsewhere), 1500′ in the afternoon, and 500′ overnight. About 0.4”-1.0” WE is forecast during the day depending on your model choice. Given the strong westerlies, I”m guess 6-9” powder. Overnight, another 0.3” WE is forecast. Let’s call that 3-5” additional powder. Why am I leaning into the higher numbers? Because orographics. The wind will be W 40 pre-dawn, W 50-55 in the morning (will likely affect some lifts), WNW 40 in the afternoon (wind-affected lifts, again), and W 35 after midnight.

Friday will be clear as a bell to start. The free air freezing level will be 0-500′ early, 1500′ in the afternoon, and 0′ overnight. Don’t rule out some orographic flurries – models are vacillating. Overnight – the same. Up to 1” fresh snow is forecast during the day. Same overnight. I dunno… models are not all that enthusiastic about any snow at elevation, and neither am I. Anyway, the wind will be W 35 early, W 25 midday, SW 15-25 in the afternoon, and SW 5-15 overnight.

Saturday starts partly cloudy and quickly turns snowy. If you hurry, you should be able to get some fresh corduroy before 10am or so. The snow level will be 0′ in the morning, 1000-1500′ in the afternoon, and 0′ after midnight (near Mt. Hood). About 0.3” WE is forecast during the day for 3-4” powder. Another 0.1” WE is forecast overnight for just another inch. Wind: SW 5-15 all day becoming E 10 overnight. Sunday looks sunny and then high overcast. Monday should be dry too. Can you say, “Perfect packed powder every single day?” Yes? Good. Enjoy!

FORECAST SPONSORED BY / AWESOME COMPANIES TO SUPPORT

Gorge Wind Forecast

Thursday’s your shot at an eastern Gorge windsport day. If you do it, make sure you stop at Amayah’s (the Indian food cart just east of Biggs) on your way home. The wind kicks off at 15-25 from Rooster Rock to Viento with calm wind to the east. Just wait. Late-morning westerlies rise to gusty 20-23 from Stevenson to Doug’s with gusty 27-31+ from Avery to Boardman. River flow on Wednesday night was 142kcfs, river temp is 39F, and high temp forecast is merely 43F. Friday starts with W 12-15 all through the Gorge. The wind drops to 10-13 in the west with the addition of drizzle and rises to gusty 20-23 east of The Dalles. High temp: 44F. Saturday starts with E 20-25 from Rooster to Viento. Afternoon wind falls to E 10-15 in the western Gorge with E 5-10 from Hood river eastward. High temp: 42 or less.

Jones, Sauvie Island, Coast – Done for the Season

Hood River Weather Forecast

Drizzle sticks around basically all day. Temps will be in the mid 30’s early and low 40’s later. Moderate westerlies. 99% chance of rainbows. Friday will be drizzly/snainy/wet snowy til 10am or so and again in the evening for a little while. Temps start in the low-mid 30’s and rise to the mid 40’s. Light to moderate westerlies. 99% chance of rainbows. Saturday probably brings snow flurries and then some drizzle. Temps start in the upper 20’s and rise to the low 40’s. Easterlies. 9% 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.

Local-ish Events

Please let me know of outdoor-related local-ish events. If you don’t tell me, I don’t know!
Coming up March 4th, it’s the 4x4x24 challenge to raise funds for the Vancity soccer program. You can participate by running 4 miles every 4 hours, participate just a little, or donate. Check out more information here.

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.