Category: Forecast

The Clymb: free membership. Cheap gear. Temira approves. Click to join.

Before you read on, please remember that it’s Pledge Drive Month here at The Gorge is my Gym. Yep, you get it on NPR, you get it on C89.5 and now you get it in your wind and snow forecast. Here’s the scoop: If I get donations totaling $15 or more on a given day, I’ll post a forecast the next day. If not, only the people on the mailing list get the forecast. $12 or more gets you on the mailing list. Thanks for understanding that I have to make a living doing this (and I love it and want it to be my job), and thank you for your support! I’ll do my best to keep the red dot or green dot below updated.

Tomorrow’s forecast status: Thank you! 12:40pm

Today’s sponsor: Celilo Inn, The Dalles. When you’re visiting The Gorge, you need a place to stay. Hood River’s a little short on hotel rooms and vacation rentals. So, try The Dalles, up-and-coming with yummy food and fun bars with a we-live-here-not-just-vacation-here vibe. Where do you stay? Celilo Inn on the east hill above town, with spectacular views of the river and the dam and locks. Suite rooms with views of the Columbia. Big pillow-top mattresses. A pool. A fire pit. A mini gym. Adventure packages with whitewater rafting and wine tours. And it’s not just for tourists: Celilo Inn can give you locals an escape from the crazy summer bustle of Hood River.

If you like hot weather, you’re in for a treat, as today’s going to be in the 90’s and the next two days will likely hit triple digits. My take on that? Blech. Hot. NOAA’s also talking thunderstorms on Saturday, but it looks like the best chance will happen late Saturday night, if at all. At least that will set us up for a gorgeous sunrise on Sunday. However, Saturday will be wicked hot and muggy. It’s going to be a fabulous day for whitewater kayaking, with the White Salmon currently at 2.5ft.

So the hot weather people are happy now, but the wind people are not feeling the love today. We start with very light west wind, switching to east wind at 21-24 by midday today as high pressure builds over the desert and a thermal low sits over the coast. Tomorrow brings another round of east wind in the low twenties at both Stevenson and Rooster Rock. On Friday and Saturday, the wind shuts off, leaving the Gorge in triple digits with calm weather.

The coast should be north at 15-18 today, with 20-25 central, but the wind shuts down tomorrow and Friday, at least. The surfing should be great, with 4′ at 12 seconds or so and 90 degrees (yes, really) in the forecast for areas north of Lincoln City. What sort of wetsuit do you wear in 50 degree water when it’s 90 degrees outside? I dunno…

Remember that Friday is the Positively Kai standup paddle event at Hood River’s waterfront park. It’s the best babysitter ever! If your kids don’t have the gear, don’t worry, because there will be plenty of demo gear, a clinic first thing in the morning, lunch and races, along with plenty of time to hang with the pro paddlers. Sign your kids up now at positivelykai.com or get more info at bigwinds.com.

That’s Friday. On Saturday, bring the kids to Bingen for the Kids in Motion bike and run festival, raising money for the White Salmon Bike Park.

Have an awesome day today!

Temira

The Clymb: free membership. Cheap gear. Temira approves. Click to join.

Before you read on, please remember that this report (wind, snow and events, year round, almost every day – WOW!) is brought to you free of charge. It’s my hobby, but it’s valuable to you, and I put it out here free so you can make the most of your free time. But there are five times as many people using the forecast for free as there are making donations. We all know windsurfers and kiters and skiers can make a small donation to keep a good thing going. So we’re trying something through Labor Day. You can get this forecast as an email for $12. That gets you in the running for a few prizes here and there, and from now on it’ll give you consistency (on the 98% of days I write a forecast. Admit it, that’s pretty amazing for one chick working by herself!). Here’s the scoop: If I get donations totaling $15 or more on a given day, I’ll post a forecast the next day. If not, only the people on the mailing list get the forecast. Thanks for understanding that I have to make a living, and thank you for your support!

Tomorrow’s forecast status: Updated 11:57pm. Thank you!

Today’s going to be the windiest and the coolest day this week – but that’s not really saying much, with a high today near 85 – as a weather system north of us brings a few clouds to Portland. We’ll have west wind at 15-18 early this morning, picking up to 22-25, maybe a little more, midday. I really was hoping we’d see more marine clouds this morning, but no such luck. Strongest wind this morning will be Stevenson to Hood River, and the strongest wind later will be from Hood River to The Dalles. The weather system sneaking by today could make the wind gusty and unreliable, at least in the morning. Watch for high clouds to signify its arrival or departure.

We might see some light west wind early tomorrow, but it won’t last. As high pressure builds inland, we’ll see a quick switch to east wind at 21-24 near Stevenson. East wind continues Thursday, and then on Friday, we’ll see no wind, high clouds, humidity, highs near 100, and a chance of thunderstorms. Same goes for Saturday, but by Sunday, we should see west wind and cooler weather.

If you’re thinking of escaping to the coast, today looks like 15-18 north and 20-25 central. Tomorrow looks similar. After that, no wind, light wind, or light south wind through the weekend. Swell is 3-4 foot at 12-14 seconds, so good. The medium-period west swell should hold through the weekend, when there’s a slight chance of a very long period south swell hitting the coast. If you can go coastal today and tomorrow, you have a pretty good chance of having a good trip. And if you go later in the week, you should get some good surfing.

Coming up on Friday,19 year-old (assuming I did the math correctly), world famous waterman Kai Lenny brings the free, grom-only, Postively Kai standup paddle race to Hood River. You can sign up at PositivelyKai.com. Like I said, it’s free, with lunch for the kids, demo boards after the races, and a chance to paddle with all the pro paddlers in town for the Naish Paddle Challenge next weekend.

Finally, remember we are at Fire Danger Level 3 now in Oregon. In addition to County lands being closed to motorized use, all SDS lands, including the Whoopdee and East Ridge trails are now closed to foot and bike traffic. The landowners made the decision yesterday after looking at the fire danger. Also, the trails on Kreps land are closed too. That means all trails are now (temporarily) closed on Hospital Hill. Seriously. No joking. SDS will be enforcing the closures. Using Kreps’ trails at this time, after we’ve been asked not to, could jeopardize our relationship with them. Please, find somewhere else to hike/bike/walk the dog. I know, the options are limited. Maybe it’s time to go surfing, rather than biking!

Have a great day today!

Temira