Forecast - The Gorge is my Gym

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Good morning,

So, on Wednesday night I went to the HRC Planning Commission’s meeting on Barrett Park. Now, you know me. I go to be at 8:30 so I can get up and write the forecast. I didn’t leave the meeting until 10:15. I woke up yesterday morning sick as a dog at 10:45am. 10:45am! Wow. I haven’t slept in that late in years. So, that’s why you didn’t get a forecast. I feel much better now, thanks.

In a bright bit of news, it looks like Barrett Park, including the mountain bike skills area, is a go, thanks to the hard work of your friends the Hood River Area Trail Stewards, along with support and advice from Arthur, who will be happy to know that his garbage cans will not blow away today.

In the wind forecast today, we’ll see easterlies at 15-18 near Stevenson and Rooster today. Tomorrow sees the easterlies pick up a bit to 21-24, and then back off a bit on Sunday to 15-18. If you need wind, today and Sunday look quite wind from the north to central coast. Westerlies return to the Gorge with a vengeance on Monday.With the east wind blowing, the wind will be light from Hood River eastward all weekend, making for great weather for gardening, farming, fishing and road biking.

For you road bikers, good news: The 44 Road is now open, so the Dufur Century is open for the long-distance crowd. If you’re interested in a group bike ride, there’s a big group from Portland meeting in the Full Sail parking lot at 9:30 on Saturday morning. Also on Saturday, the OBRA road race championships, not here, but think good thoughts for our local racers: Tom, John, David and Brian. In other road news, Vista Ridge and Lolo Pass are not open. No word on Lost Lake Road, but their FB page says late May.

Coming up on Saturday, the Central Gorge Master Gardeners have their annual spring plant sale from 9am to 1pm at the OSU extension office in Hood River. Also this weekend, the uber-popular CGORA dirt bike ride, leaving Pine Mont around 10am. If you’re going, say thank you to Rick for his work on the 133-140 connector trail.

On Sunday, in celebration of mother’s day, Big Winds has free standup paddle demos for all you moms. Grab the kids and head to Hood River’s Event Site to try out the latest watersport craze. Also on Sunday, your season pass from any ski area in the world gets you on the slopes at Timberline for free. Yes, that’s right. Use that Meadows pass for a day at T-Line.

Have an awesome day today!

Temira

p.s. If you find this report useful, entertaining, or just want to recognize all the hard work that goes into it, please take the time to make a donation by clicking on the link below. For a suggested donation of $10, I’ll add you to the email version of this list for a year, putting you in the running for cool prizes donated by the weekly sponsors during the summer season (and the winter if I get off my bum and get some!). If you don’t PayPal, you can send a donation to PO Box 841 in Hood River, 97031.

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Good morning,

Dynamic weather systems are really cool… in the winter. In the summer, they can make predicting the wind really tough. As predicted yesterday, it got very windy in Stevenson, but then it never filled in anywhere else. The system causing the trouble is out of the picture now, and the gradient is at .18. It’s clear skies outside my window, and that means it’s a Corridor day today (complete with dawn patrol).

24-27 this morning at the Hatchery picks up briefly to 27-31 mid-morning, with less in Hood River, but still plenty of wind from Hood River out to The Dalles. East of there, expect 17-21. Models suggest the wind will back off this afternoon, but I think we’ll see mid-twenties all day.

High pressure starts building across the Cascades tomorrow, but we’ll still have west wind at 15-18+ early in the morning, fading a bit in the afternoon and switching to east wind late in the day.

On Friday and Saturday we’ll have east wind and heat.

On a more general note, I’ve been watching how the overall weather pattern affects Gorge wind. The last three summers have been La Nina times two and El Nino times one. The wind has been less than stellar from a windsurfing perspective (it’s been a lot better for kiters and slalom sailors). Our final option is an ENSO neutral year, like we have now. If El Nino isn’t great and La Nina isn’t either, then maybe the neutral year will be the epic one!

Tonight’s the busy night this week. There’s the Kayak Shed’s shop paddle on the Lower and Middle White Salmon. There’s Richard Hallman’s slide show on Oregon Surfing at Dog River this evening, with proceeds benefiting the Hood River Waterfront Park. Also tonight, it’s your chance to voice your opinion at the Hood River County Planning Commission’s Barrett Park meeting.

Coming up Saturday, it’s your chance to see Cliff Mass, author of the coolest book ever, the Weather of the Pacific Northwest. Sure, it’s in Portland at OMSI, but it’s going to be worth the drive. And, if enough of us show, maybe he’ll come out here and give us a talk on Gorge weather. Closer to home, there’s a CGORA dirt bike ride on Saturday and free SUP demos on Sunday for moms. And heat. Warm weather. And bike riding. Lots of road biking.

Oh, I almost forgot. The Girls Who Love Dirt had a great showing yesterday. Along with County guys and Rick Higgins from CGORA and token man Jeff Blackman, they put in the 133-140 connector trail in upper Post. It’s not a long trail, but it allows you to link some good riding without ever hitting the road. The trail, according to County guy Douglas, should be open this afternoon.

Have an awesome day today!

Temira