Wednesday: REST DAY!!!

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Gorge Wind Forecast

Not much happening for wind in the Gorge today. Call it a rest day, finally, after a very long stretch of westerlies. If you could Thursday’s easterlies as a rest as well, you have two days to pull yourself together before the wind returns. The general picture long-range is offshore high pressure and desert heat, just the right combo for day after day of wind. But first…

Wednesday sees weak troughing all across the PNW to start the day. This has squished the gradients to almost nothing – early pressures were 30.23/30.20/30.19 for 0.03 and 0.01. Survey says… rest day! Westerlies are generally 10mph or less to start the day with low teens at Viento. The wind should turn calm or nearly so midday. There’s the slightest chance of 10-13 from Stevenson to Viento late in the day, but it’s less likely than not. River flow yesterday was 141-186kcfs. River temp is 64F. High temp forecast today is a perfectly pleasant 76F. 6am White Salmon Bridge wind photo below.

A thermal trough (low pressure area) looks north from California on Thursday and wanders towards the Greater Portland Vancouver Metro Area. It doesn’t quite make it there, but it gets close enough to turn the wind easterly. The day starts with 10-15 from Rooster to Home Valley. It picks up to E 14-17 from Rooster to Viento mid to late morning before quickly turning calm in the afternoon. Be prepared for that die-off. High temp: 82F.

That thermal trough shifts east of the Cascades on Friday and NW flow shoves cooler air to the west side. Know that’s happening when you wake up to a glassy river. The glass won’t stay. Models actually don’t agree on the strength of the westerlies for Friday, so I’ll hedge and call for low 20’s. It’s worth noting that models also predict significant instability on Friday, meaning the wind could be unreliable. Ensembles seem to indicate low 20’s for the weekend followed by potentially stronger westerlies next week. This is all due to increasing offshore high pressure and warming temps for the desert; in other words, it’s a pattern we can (mostly) rely on. Fingers crossed the general pattern forecast holds!  

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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. Wednesday: 20/20-25/25-30, NW swell 4′ @ 6 seconds. Thursday: 20-25/20-25/20 (or maybe a southerly wind reversal?), W 2′ @ 11. Friday: W5-10/LTW/LTV, NW 2′ @ 8. Jones Wednesday: LTW. Thursday: LTW or calm. Friday: 24-27. Sauvie Island Wednesday: 10-13. Thursday: 12-15. Friday: 14-17.  

Mt. Hood Snow Forecast

On vacation until fall unless something extraordinary happens.  

Hood River Weather Forecast

Mostly clear sky this morning adds some clouds to the north and south this afternoon. Temps will be in the mid 40’s early and mid 70’s later. Calm wind, or nearly so. No rainbows. Thursday will be mostly clear. Temps start in the low 50’s and rise to the low 80’s. Light easterlies midday. Calm wind the rest of the time. No rainbows. Friday will be mostly clear to start and will add convective clouds in the afternoon. Temps start in the mid 50’s and rise to the upper 70’s. Calm wind early. Moderate westerlies later. 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! The summer solstice party at Illumination Saddle is this evening. No guns. No fireworks. Everything else goes. On Friday evening at 5:30, you can watch the movie Pororoca about foiling the world’s longest wave. Saturday is 12 hours of Post Canyon. Mosier Fest is Saturday 6/24, noon to 8:30 at the Mosier School. The Mt. Hood Megaloop kite competition window runs June 23 (or 24 – the Facebook both said both!) to July 3 at Rufus. There are still spots open.

On June 24th (sat) at 8:45am will be the final brush and bike party up on the backside of Nestor Peak Trail. This section is pretty cool – it includes the old growth Middle Fork Grove, is up above 3k and doesn’t have poison oak. After the brush work, you can hike to Monte Carlo summit or take advantage of a shuttle ride and pedal all the way to Nestor Peak and down. Meet at Northwestern Park.

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 above 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

How much rain do you need to make brown pow out of dust? Somewhere between 0.1” and 0.25”. When’s it gonna happen? Who the heck knows? Did it rain on the 44 trail system over the last few days? Go check it out and tell me! Logging is happening on Hospital Hill on the trail between the top of Roll Baby Roll and the Bench. This means you cannot make a full circle. You could ride Bad Wolf and Millennium as a loop. You can ride Roll Baby Roll and Triple Bypass as a loop. You cannot access Treehugger at this time. Post is clear of snow to the top. Dog River and Surveyor’s are clear. Bottle Prairie, 8 Mile, Underhill, Cedar Creek, Lower Cooks, and Super Connector are open and already dusty. Fifteenmile is rideable. Super Duper Connector is open. Nestor Peak is clear of snow. The USFS website says that Lewis River is open and clear. The Forest Loop above Trout Lake is open as is the mixed surface Sleeping Beauty/8810 loop. 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

You have an unusual solstice-week opportunity. With the clouds and the chance of drizzle and the cool temps, you have a perfect opportunity to sow seeds. Replace your lettuce. Drop in another round of cilantro. Add some arugula. Carve out a little trench for some carrots. Water them, and you might just get away with once-a-day watering through Monday. It’s also a decent time to add some plants to your garden. They’ll prefer this gentle start to a harsh, hot-weather transplant. Happy gardening.  

Sprinter Van of the Week!

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Have an awesome day!