| Your favorite beach | Dawn Patrol |
9am- 11:30a |
11:30a- 3pm |
3pm- dusk |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rooster Rock | light | W 5-8 | W 5-8 | W 5-8 | |
| Steven’s Locks | 13-16 | 13-16 | 18-22 | 22-25 | |
| Hatchery/Wunderbar | 18-22 | 22-25 | 25-29 | 22-25 | |
| Doug’s, Lyle, Rowena | 18-22 | 22-25 | 25-29 | 22-25 | |
| Rufus, etc. | 18-22 | 22-25 | 25-29 | 22-25 | |
| Roosevelt, etc. | 10-13 | 13-16 | 16-20 | 20-25 | |
Gorge Wind Forecast
There’s a lovely, cool, marine-layery breeze flowing through the Gorge right now. Marine clouds have pushed past Hood River this morning for the first time in a long time. Gradients at 6am were .10 (pdx-dls) and .03 (dls-psc) with river flow at 128kcfs at The Dalles and river temp of 70 degrees. The air quality, despite improved appearance, was “unhealthy”, meaning we are still supposed to limit outdoor activities. The Hood River County Health Department would like you to read this press release regarding outdoor activity during periods of wildfire smoke.
So anyway, we started the day with windspeeds in the teens through the Gorge, except way out east, where there was less wind. With the clouds this far east, the morning wind will be strongest east, but you can expect the wind to backfill to the west by early afternoon. So. We’ll have 14-17 from Cascade Locks to Rufus for Dawn Patrol. By 11am, the wind will pick up to 22-25 from Mosier to Arlington. By early afternoon, we’ll have 25-29 between Viento and Rufus. The Cascade Locks to Home Valley stretch really depends on the clouds burning off, so let’s go with 22-25 there this afternoon. Most of the day should be relatively steady, but the wind could get more inconsistent late in the afternoon due to an approaching frontal system.
That system gets closer on Saturday and swings through Saturday night. This starts our day with clouds to Hood River and wind at 13-16 from Cascade Locks to Arlington. By midday, we’ll be seeing gusty 23-26 from Mosier to Arlington, with gusty 18-22 between Cascade Locks and Hood River. If the clouds burn back midday, which they may or may not, we could see a period of 23-26 from Stevenson to Hood River. Models are pointing at this frontal system dragging clouds all the way to Hood River in the afternoon hours, which would really knock down wind speeds.
High pressure builds back in on Sunday. The GFS currently suggests light westerlies in the morning and calm wind in the afternoon. This is that setup we’ve seen before where we could end up with light westerlies, 5-8 or so, all day long. Monday looks like E 20-25. Tuesday looks like E 15-20 to start with calm wind midday and west 10-13 in the afternoon. The GFS is hinting at thunderstorms on Tuesday as well.
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Jones, Sauvie’s, Coast Beta Test Forecast
Jones Friday: 5-10. Saturday: no. Sunday: no. Sauvie’s Friday: 8-11. Saturday: no. Sunday: 11-15. Coast (north/central/south). Friday: 5-10/10-15/25-30, W swell 5′ at 10 seconds. Saturday: no/no/25-30, W 5′ @ 15 … wow! Sunday: 15-20/25-30/35+, W 6′ @ 13, wow!
Random Morning Thoughts
As a marital, couples and family therapy student, I’m trained to think of things in terms of systems. I spent some time yesterday thinking about the causes and conditions that led to a 15 year old tossing fireworks into Eagle Creek Canyon.
The first thing that comes to mind for me were the groups of adults who saw kids with fireworks. Although they said something (and continue to blame this child), these adults did not exercise adult responsibility; they did not take away the fireworks, matches, and lighters. I think this comes, in part, out of the fact that our society leans so heavily on individual, rather than communal values. Despite being intertwined as members of the human race, we no longer ask the village to raise the child; we place the full responsibility on the parents and the child. What if the first people to see the fireworks had acted like parents?
In our movies and in our celebrations, we glorify blowing things up. We focus our spirituality on a higher being, rather than on the Earth’s beautiful places. We see nature as the source of material goods, rather than spiritual goods, leading us to value it less. We teach our children consumerism, rather than empathy, wisdom, awe, wonder and generosity.
We say things like, “not my problem,” “not my job,” and “not my responsibility,” seeing life in terms of individual rights, values and responsibility. That’s simply our culture. Other cultures work differently, and neither is all good or all bad.
But our culture does lead us to place all the responsibility for this fire on one person. I suggest that we think bigger, and see how our culture’s beliefs, values and actions contributed. What can you change in you to ensure that you’re protecting us from the downsides of an individually-focused culture? By contemplating, you’re awesome. Have an awesome day.
Disclaimer required by my grad school program: I am not your therapist (but I could be 27 graduate school credits from now). 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. One other thing: I plan to keep doing this forecast indefinitely, even when I am a therapist.
Gorge Weather Forecast
In a delightful twist this morning, there are clouds over Hood River. In an equally delightful twist, there’s little enough smoke that the clouds are visible! Looking at the air quality, however, it’s still in the “unhealthy” zone, despite the clear-looking air. So, limit your outdoor activities and exercise. Temps will be in the mid 60’s this morning and near 80 this afternoon. Moderate to strong wind. Muggy. No rainbows. Tomorrow looks partly cloudy early and cloudy in the afternoon as a front pushes in. We may see just a couple raindrops. Temps will be near 60 early and in the mid 70’s in the afternoon. Moderate westerlies. 1% chance of rainbows. Sunday looks sunny. Temps will be in the mid 50’s early and low 80’s in the afternoon. Light to no wind. No rainbows.
For weather specifically directed at travel through the Gorge, please visit Temira’s Awesome Travel Advisory Service on Facebook.
White Sprinter Van of the Week
Road and Mountain Biking
ATTENTION: Post Canyon and all other Hood River County lands (Pine Mont, Kingsley, etc.) and all county roads that access county forest (Riorden Hill, Kingsley, Post Canyon) are now CLOSED due to extreme fire danger and a lack of resources to fight any fires that might start. No biking. No hiking. No equestrianing. No nothinging. Please obey the closures – there will be sheriff patrols in place. Other closed lands include Kreps (Hospital Hill) and SDS (Whoopdee and Underwood). In addition, all forest lands east of Dee Highway and north of Mt. Hood’s peak are under a level one (get set!) evacuation order.
Upcoming Events
Today starts off with your chance to earn a free coffee and donut at the Kickstand Coffee run. Be at the coffee shop at 7am, preferably with your N95 mask, for a 4 mile jog that’ll earn you approximately 400 calories. The Huckleberry Festival starts in Bingen today, with huckleberry milkshakes all weekend long. The Hood River Fly-In is still happening Saturday and Sunday, and the Aluminum Man triathlon is Sunday in The Dalles.
With Post Canyon closed, the work party schedule for Saturday is canceled, as is the weekly Saturday trail run. A nice indoor activity this weekend is the half-day meditation retreat at yoga Samadhi from 1 to 5 on Saturday.
Click here for the full events calendar.
Mt. Hood Snow Forecast
The Mt. Hood snow forecast is currently on vacation. It will stay on vacation until I deem it to be close enough to winter that we need a Mt. Hood snow forecast. Be safe out there on the snow this summer!
Have an awesome day today!
Temira
