Saturday: at least four days of westerlies…

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

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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	swarms	of	naked	buns
Steven’s Locks	calm	calm	8-12	G15-18
Viento	calm	calm	8-12	G15-18
Swell-Hood River	calm	calm	8-12	G15-18
Lyle to Doug’s	calm	calm	calm	calm
Rufus, etc.	calm	calm	calm	calm
Roosevelt & Arlington	calm	calm	calm	calm

Gorge Wind Forecast

It’s going to be an interesting week in the Gorge. Standard-issue cooldown involves offshore high pressure and a trough along the coast, but that’s not what we’re getting this time. Nope. This time we’ll get an offshore low. The result will still be wind, but it’ll be a bit trickier to predict. Let’s dive in.

Saturday starts off with nearly-nothing in the pressure zone: 30.00/29.99/29.99. That gives us gradients of 0.01 and 0.00. That’s bike riding weather! We’ll see the westerlies pick up this afternoon as the heat low shifts east of the Cascades. Early afternoon thermals rise to 8-12 from Stevenson to Hood River. Late afternoon picks up a bit more, perhaps gusty 15-18 from Stevenson to The Dalles. That’s best-case scenario there. River flow readings yesterday were 129-164kcfs, river temp is 51F, and high temp forecast is 83F.

The high temp drops 15 degrees or so on Sunday as marine clouds push deep into the western half of the state. Usually we’ll have offshore high pressure aiding the big picture for a cooldown, but not this time. Nope, there’s a compact little offshore low. So, we’re relying on thermal assistance to get things rolling. Added hiccup: instability. The day starts with 22-25 from Stevenson to Rufus. We’ll quickly bump up to gusty 25-29 from Stevenson to Arlington. The deterministic GFS really likes the idea of 30-35 in the afternoon from Stevenson to Rufus with 22-25 east to Arlington. I”m a bit skeptical of this (and so are the ensembles), but it will definitely be windy enough to get you on the river. It’ll also be particularly gusty. High temp: 66F.

Monday sees that low move south. High pressure slowly replaces it. For the morning, we’ll have gusty 20-23 from Stevenson to Mosier with 10-13 east of Mosier to Arlington. Afternoon wind picks up to 24-27 from Stevenson to Rufus. We’re looking at similar wind on Tuesday. Wednesday gets really interesting as instability ramps way up. Expect thunderstorms along with your wind. That’s where we’ll leave this for today. Have a good one!

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Jones, Sauvie’s, Coast

Wind speed in knots. Direction Northerly unless otherwise noted for Coast. Westerly for Jones. Northerly for Sauvie Island. North/Central/South, waves. Wave forecast provided by NWS. Saturday: LTW/LTW/LTV, NW swell 5′ @ 12 seconds. Sunday: SW 5-10/S 10-15/S 20-25, @ 7′ @ 15. Monday: 10-15/20-25/25-30, W 8′ @ 11 (looks like a nice one!). Jones Saturday: 15-18. Sunday: LTV. Monday: LTW. Sauvie Island Saturday: 5-10 late. Sunday: LTV. Monday: 12-15.

Mt. Hood Snow Forecast

Happy Saturday! It’s Meadows’ final day of the season. You’ll have to ride Timberline or earn your turns from now on. For today, we’ll have sunshine all day. The free air freezing level (FAF) will be 12,000′ all day and will fall to 11,000′ overnight. Wind: SW 10-15 all day becoming SE 15-20 after midnight. Sunday will be partly cloudy becoming mostly cloudy. The FAF will be 11,000′ in the morning, 10,000′ in the afternoon, and 9500′ after midnight. Wind: SE 15-20 in the morning becoming variable to 20 in the afternoon. Monday will be partly cloudy. The FAF will be 9500′ in the morning and will rise to 11,000′ in the afternoon. Wind will be variable to 20.

Hood River Weather Forecast

Mostly clear weather sticks around today. Temps will be near 50 early and in the low 80’s later. Calm wind in the morning. Moderate westerlies in the afternoon. No rainbows. Sunday will be partly cloudy in the morning and mostly cloudy later. Temps start in the low 50’s and rise to the mid 60’s. Strong westerlies. No rainbows. Monday will be partly cloudy. Temps start in the upper 40’s and rise to the mid 60’s. Moderate to 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.

Local-ish Events

Please let me know of outdoor-related local-ish events. If you don’t tell me, I don’t know! On April 30th, SheroDigs will be working on trails in Post Canyon. If you’re interested (no cis-dudes, sorry), email sherodigshoodriver@gmail.com. Space is limited.

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. On Saturday at 9am, there’s a by-donation outdoor group fitness on the 2rd floor deck about Ferment Brewing.

Regular bike rides (thanks to the Hood River Area Trail Stewards for collecting). Tuesday is Mountain View’s ride. Meet at 5:45pm on Post Canyon Drive where the pavement ends. Wednesday is the Evo/Kickstand all-ability, no-drop Post Canyon ride. 5:30 from the shop or join along the way. All abilities welcome. Thursday is Mountain View’s women’s ride. 5:30pm, Seven Streams Trailhead. No drop. Thursday is also the Dirty Fingers Post and Pint. 5:30 from the shop or later at Family Man. This is hardcore, race-pace. Saturday morning is the Mountain View road/gravel ride. Two hours. 12-14mph average speed. Starting May 6th, Oregon Ebikes has the women’s ride at 8:30am. Meet at Seven Streams parking lot for a 1.5 to 2 hour ride.

Cycling

There’s going to be a lot of brown pow out there this week. Go get it! Post is snow-free at least to the top of Borderline. Cows are in on Hospital Hill. That means dogs are no longer allowed. Even if your dog is cool. Even if you’re a local. Even if … you get the picture! Hospital Hill is private land. Please respect the wishes of the landowners – they’re generous enough to let folks use that land, and dogs have been shot there before. Please don’t ride muddy trails, or you’ll do permanent damage. Always remember to 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.

Valuable Advice for Gardeners Inhabiting Neighboring Areas

Valuable Advice for Gardeners Inhabiting Neighboring Areas: Mt. Defiance says you shouldn’t plant your tomatoes, but if you’re below 500-1000′, Hood River Weather and TATAS thinks planting tomatoes this week is a good idea. It’s also time (for me, anyway) to get your beans started indoors. They generally do better direct-sow, but they also generally get eaten by slugs if I do that. If you’re a planner (I generally am not), consider starting next year’s compost pile now. This is ag country, and there’s a lot of manure looking for a good home. Happy gardening.