Saturday: it’s DUMPING on the mountain! westerlies on the river.

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!

The Forecast

Snow level	4a-8a	8a-12p	12p-4p	4p-8p	8p-4a
Mt. Hood Snow Forecast – 5000′
Saturday 2500′->1000′
Sunday 1000′
Monday 1000′->5500’ish

Mt. Hood Snow Forecast

Good morning skiers, snowboarders, and Nordic folks! Are you ready for a wild ride into winter? Good, because that’s what’s headed our way. We start with a reasonable storm-skiing day and a foot of new into Sunday. That’s followed by bluebird conditions Sunday and a truly massive storm system Monday through Wednesday morning. This won’t all come in as snow, but by the end of it, you won’t even know that there was a period of r**n.

Saturday looks pretty darn awesome. Snow falls all day and all night. The snow level will be 2500′ in the morning, 1500-2000′ in the afternoon, and down to 1000′ overnight under clearing sky. About 0.7” water equivalent (WE) is forecast during the day for 7-9” new. Overnight, another 0.3” to 0.5” is forecast, for 3-5” more. Those ranges include the possibility of orographics increasing snowfall amounts – the wind is from just the right direction to enhance snowfall. NW 30 this morning, WNW 30 this afternoon, and NW 30-40 after midnight. Expect that wind to shut down the highest lifts.

Sunday kicks off with some flurries, perhaps, but it might also kick off bluebird. Expect a very, very, very busy day on Mt. Hood. Expect excellent packed powder, and expect groom at Teacup. Clear sky in the morning adds high clouds late and light snow after midnight. The free air freezing level will be 1000′ or less all day. Temps at 5000′ rise to 32-33F after midnight. Wind: NW 30-40 in the morning

Get ready for wild weather Monday into Wednesday morning as very strong wind, lots of moisture, and a fluctuating freezing level combine for messiness. The snow level rises to 5500′ or so (850mb temps at +2C) mid-morning Monday. It drops to 5000′ by the afternoon and continues to fall overnight. So, the mountain will see snow, then snain (wet snow that’s barely snow), maybe a little rain, then more snow. The exact percentages are uncertain. Perhaps we’ll have a better idea tomorrow. A small change in the storm path could have a huge impact on snow amounts. Anyway, about 2.5” water equivalent is forecast. Above 6500′, this will be 2-3 feet of snow. At 5000′, we’re looking at less. Just a guess? 10-18”? Total guesswork there. Anyway, wind on Monday will be WSW 20-25 early, W 35 midday, W 35-40 in the afternoon and (hahahaha) WSW 80kts after midnight. Geez.

Tuesday may start with mixed precip and a snow level of 5500′, but the snow level falls quickly and lands at 1500′ by mid-morning. It’ll be down to 1000′ or less overnight. During the day, 1.3” water equivalent is forecast for 10-15” new. Overnight: 1.1” water equivalent of much lighter, much fluffier snow: 11-13” pow-pow. Wind: oops. Probably not going to have any lifts. WSW 80kts early, W 50 mid-morning (might have some lifts then), and W 65 in the afternoon (no lifts) and W 40 overnight (no night skiing!). Wednesday looks cold, clear, and epic. After that, we start to see lots of uncertainty in the models. Let’s leave the forecast there. Please give the ski resorts some grace Monday through Wednesday as they do their best with this storm. There will be delays and digging on Wednesday morning as they do storm recovery. Patience, my friends! It’s going to be a wild ride. Enjoy!

Gorge Wind Forecast

Hi friends! Models remain all over the place on their predictions for wind strength today. The deterministic model has backed off from yesterday, but about 40% of the ensemble members keep the stronger wind around. Tomorrow will have lighter westerlies, but maybe just enough to get you foilers out. Monday: light to moderate easterlies. Tuesday: gigantic westerlies. Almost certainly. Back to Saturday… we start with pre-dawn pressures of 29.79/29.74/29.70 for gradients of 0.05 and 0.04. Those increase. Expect 21-24 this morning from Stevenson to Hood River. A couple hours after that, Mosier to Rufus should rise to 25-28. After 1pm or so, the eastern Gorge falls to 18-22, and the western Gorge drops to 14-17. It’s worth noting that about 40% of the ensemble members call for stronger wind. Tricky day to predict accurately. River flow yesterday was 100-138kcfs, river temp is 44F, and high temp forecast is 43F with partly cloudy sky in the west and sun out east.

Sunday currently looks like 17-20 from Stevenson to Mosier through noon or so. Afternoon: 13-16 from Stevenson to Avery falling to 11-14 mid afternoon. High temp: 43F under partly to mostly sunny sky. Yay, sunshine! Monday brings snow or rain with light easterlies. Tuesday: models drag a low pressure system inland along the border with Canada. Very strong upper-level flow accompanies this. Models call for west wind at 30-40+. Most of the ensemble members are on board, which is a good sign this will actually happen. I’d say if it’s in the models on Sunday and you’re into a giant west wind day, plan to take Tuesday off. See ya on the river!

FORECAST SPONSORED BY / AWESOME COMPANIES TO SUPPORT

Jones, Sauvie’s, Coast – On vacation ‘til summer unless otherwise noted

Hood River Weather Forecast

Cloudy sky adds some sunbreaks in the afternoon and rain in the evening. Temps will be in the upper 30’s early and low 40’s later. Moderately strong westerlies. 78% chance of rainbows. Sunday starts partly cloudy with icy roads. Temps start in the mid 30’s and rise to the low 40’s. Moderate westerlies. No rainbows. Precip (probably wet snow, maybe snain or rain at low elevations) starts around 1am Monday. Expect snain in the morning and rain in the afternoon at river level. Temps will be in the low-mid 30’s early and mid 40’s (unlikely, actually) later. Light 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!

The Teacup Tea Party is 1/13 at Teacup with free beginner and intermediate skate and classic ski lessons. Hood River Rotary Night at Meadows is Monday, 1/15. Registration is open for Gorge Ultimate winter league. Sign up here: https://gorge.ultimatecentral.com/e/winter-league-2024 – Teacup has an après ski fundraiser at the Ruins on January 27th. $25. Amayah’s Indian Cafe (Biggs) offers a free meal every first Thursday from 1-4pm.

Regular weekly events:. NK Studio’s by-donation Tuesday morning yoga class is back. 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. The Tri Club is done for the season. 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.

Cycling

Regarding the trails in general: don’t ride in the mud. You’ll damage the trails. Don’t ride trails if it was below freezing the previous night and is above freezing when you want to ride. Ride gravel. Ride your trainer. Build trails. There are trail builders seeking extra hands on seven additional miles of trail on Whoopdee. Contact HRATS for more information. If you’re parking at Post Canyon, you will need a parking pass. Those can be purchased at many local shops or online.