It’s still snowing this morning on Mt. Hood, and the staff of all three ski resorts are doing happy dances in their respective parking lots. We’re looking at a lot more snow in the next 48 hours before we see a couple days of sunshine and epic groomed run skiing. This is really bordering on ridiculous. We’re living with some alternate universe’s Mt. Hood, where every day is either a powder day or an epic packed powder groomer day. Even though we’ve been dropped into an alternate universe, I recommend you get up there this week, just in case. Continued after the chart.
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4a-8a | 8a-12p | 12p-4p | 4p-8p | 8p-4a |
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| Today 1000′-> 1000′ |
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| Tomorrow 500′-1500′ |
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| The next day 1000′–>0′ |
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Mt. Hood Snow Forecast, continued…
Light orographic (terrain-enhanced) snowfall continues this morning, with a pretty good chance of sunbreaks mid-morning before the next weather system brings in clouds by noon and snowfall by 2pm. The snow level today will be 1000′ or less all day long. We’ll see .1-.2” water value (WV) this morning for 1-3” of new snow. Between this afternoon and tomorrow morning, we’ll see 1.4” WV, for 14-18” of fresh, light, fluffy, awesome powder. Wind today will be WNW 30 in the morning, WSW 15 midday, W 35 in the early evening, and WNW 55 overnight. That overnight blast could affect the snow quality tomorrow morning.
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Tomorrow starts off with light snowfall, picking up to heavy snowfall after 1pm. The snow level will fluctuate between 500′ and 1500′, but that’s not going to impact the quality of the skiing, only the quality of the drive to the resorts. We’ll get 1” WV between 4am and 4pm, for 12” of new snow. We’ll get another 1.2” WV between 4pm tomorrow and 4am Thursday, for another 12-14” of new snow. Wind tomorrow will be WNW 40-45 in the morning, becoming W 50-55 in the afternoon, dropping to W 40 overnight. WNW 40-45 will be enough to make lifts run slowly. W 50-55 may be enough to stop some high-speed quads. It’s borderline, and the tradeoff is the wind filling in the skier tracks!
Christmas Eve Day, Thursday, starts off with snow flurries, and then sees a few mid-level clouds for the potential for fog at low elevations of the resorts. It’s likely there will be plenty of sunbreaks too. The snow level will be 500′ all day, dropping to the surface in the evening. We’ll see .2-.3” WV in the morning, for 2-4” of new snow. Wind Thursday will be W 40 early, dropping to WSW 15 in the afternoon and becoming NW 25 overnight.
Christmas Day, if you like packed powder groom, looks off the charts. It’ll be clear all day with the snow level at 500′ or less. The wind will be NW 25 early and N 15 in the afternoon.
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Gorge Wind Forecast
I drove into Portland yesterday during the period when I told people not to. I’ve never seen the wind blowing smoke out of the west at Multnomah Falls. Whoa. I heard that some trees fell down on I-84, and saw freshly fallen trees on the side of the road, but the windstorm, overall, seemed less bad than the last one. We do have some west gradient this morning, .05 (pdx-dls) and .08 (dls-psc), but that will fade to light and variable pretty quickly, picking up to W 30ish after 7pm. By tomorrow morning, we’ll have leftover W 16-19. That wind will fade to light and variable midday and pick up to W 23-26 after 4pm. Expect light westerlies Thursday and Friday and east wind at 50 on Saturday.
Random Morning Thoughts
Today is the winter solstice, the darkest day of the year. From today on, slowly, the daylight will last longer, until we reach the summer solstice when the cycle will reverse. The winter solstice has always been tied to earth religions, to Goddess religions, to paganism and witchery. For some, today is not a day of darkness; it’s a day of power! In the past, and for many still, it’s a day of female power.
As a woman, I’m deeply saddened by the cultural forces that oppress women. Our magazines promote stick-thin bodies as ideal; however, women’s bodies are built to put on more fat than men’s bodies. We are genetically programmed to be rounder, softer, and curvier than the wispy bodies promoted by our culture. In addition to the media images, we are subjected to other forms of body shaming: our periods are considered gross and are not to be mentioned (in some cultures, they are a sign of power), we’re pressed to shave our body hair, and we’re ridiculed and demeaned for our monthly emotional fluctuations, which likely serve a purpose, perhaps allowing us to be vulnerable and connect with others more deeply.
Today is the winter solstice. Women, this has always been your holiday. Take a little time for yourself today. See if you can celebrate the things about you that our society shames: your body, your period, your emotional fluctuations. Go out and be vulnerable and motherly and connect deeply with others. Women, you are valuable and awesome just the way you are. Have an awesome day. (Men, you’re awesome too, but today’s one for us women!)
Disclaimer required by my grad school program: I am not your therapist. I am your weather forecaster. Take everything I say with a grain of salt, and consult with your actual therapist about your mental health issues.
Gorge Weather Forecast
It’s mostly cloudy out there this morning. We’ll see slightly less clouds midday and more clouds in the afternoon, followed by moderate rain tonight. Temps will be in the low 40’s all day. The snow level tonight will be around 500′-1000′, but with west wind predicted overnight, we likely won’t see snow at river level. Upper valleys, you get more snow tonight. Light west wind early, no wind midday, strong west wind tonight. 97% chance of rainbows (there was a rainbow in Portland yesterday).
Tomorrow looks showery and rainy with mixed precip in the morning and in the evening. The rain may be heavy at times after 1pm. The snow level will fluctuate between 500′ and 1500′. Temps will be in the mid 30’s early and the low 40’s in the afternoon. Upper valleys, more snow for you. Moderate west wind. 85% chance of rainbows.
It’s looking like we’ll see a few snow flurries Thursday morning, giving way to clear sky in the morning and a good chance of the Nothing midday. Temps will be in the low 30’s early, rising to the upper 30’s in the afternoon. Expect icy roads Thursday morning. Light west wind. No rainbows.
Friday starts off with Nothing and clears. Temps will be in the upper 20’s. Light wind. No rainbows. Things get very interesting on Friday night. With snow on the ground and clear sky, it’s going to get very, very cold due to radiational cooling, especially in places with snow on the ground. Looking ahead… we stay sub-freezing over the weekend. The GFS predicts some precip on Sunday, but the Euro says the precip (an atmospheric river) will hit Vancouver Island instead. If we do receive precip, it will likely be freezing rain, but it’s looking rather unlikely.
Finally, one last word: rainfall in Hood River for the water year is now 18.16”. Average on this date is 11.04”. Think about that – we are 7” over average. Wow. That’s really, really wet.
White Sprinter Van of the Day
Road and Mountain Biking
If you time it just right today, during the middle of the day, you’ll be able to get in a nice road ride at the Petersburg Loop in The Dalles. No gravel on that road, and probably no snow or ice either. Our trails are muddy and snowy, and if you ride them, you will damage them. So please, get yourself a gravel bike or road bike and let the muddy, squishy trails rest for a bit.
Holistic Massage of Hood River
Have you saved some of your holiday shopping for the last minute? Massage is the perfect gift for anyone and Holistic Massage of Hood River has you covered with easy online gift certificates. Purchase a gift certificate online at www.massagehoodriver.com or call 541-490-1444. Open 7 days a week. Specializing in injury treatment and pain relief. Want to win a massage? Subscribe to the email and you’ll get a chance!
Upcoming Events
Today is Tuesday. There’s pickup touch rugby at 5pm at the ball fields next to Jackson Park. There’s Zumba at the Parkdale Community Center at 6:30pm, and there’s community yoga at the Mosier Senior Center at 7pm. The regularly scheduled meditation for tonight at Yoga Samadhi is canceled. There is another community meditation tomorrow morning at 8:15 at Flow Yoga, if for some reason you’re not shredding powder at Meadows or Skibowl or T-Line or somewhere in the backcountry.
Have an awesome day today!
Temira
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