Category: Forecast

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Forecast

12/17 forecast



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Good morning!

There’s nothing like a Thai coffee first thing in the morning. Concentrated caffeine, concentrated sugar and cardamom are good for the brain at 5am. If you have any suggestions for other things starting with “C” that I could use at 5am, that would be great.

Of course, the caffeine and sugar in my system are no guarantee that the forecast will be correct, or even that I’ll get the correct days in the forecast. That said, here goes…

We’re in the calm before the storm right now. Literally. Mt. Hood sees clear skies and light wind this morning, with clouds filtering in around midday. Early morning westerlies gradually swing around to east, building to 15-20mph by 10pm.

Easterlies on Mt. Hood build into the 30-35mph range overnight, possibility creating some issues with lifts tomorrow morning. Of greater concern than the cold-pool driven east winds is the wind shear generated by the front coming over the top of the cold air. There’s a possibility of very strong downslope winds between 5am and 11am. Otherwise, we’ll see strong east winds switching to westerlies in the 25-30mph range by 10am.

Snow starts on the hill around 5am, with a total of 8-10” falling between 5am and 7pm. We’ll see a short-lived break in the weather in the evening, but then snow picks up again around 10pm, falling all night long, for an additional 4-6” of accumulation. Light snow keeps falling all day Sunday, with a stronger period of snowfall for a few hours midday, for another 3-4” of snow. Windspeeds on Sunday will be down from Saturday, with 10-15mph all day.

If you’ve been meaning to try new skis or a new snowboard, head to Meadows on Sunday for the NW Demo Tour. It’s free, and there will be a ton of gear for you to try. Also, if you’ve been waiting for Cooper Spur, it’s open now through the end of the holiday season (and a few days a week after that). Yay for the little resort that could!

If you live in the Gorge, here’s your hometown forecast: East gradients through the gorge will strengthen today and a cold pool of high pressure will deepen today, setting up trouble for the Gorge. Snow starts falling around 5am tomorrow, and with a total of .3-.5” of water value predicted, we’ll see 4-6” of snow during the day tomorrow. It looks like snow will continue in the Gorge through Sunday, with another 3-5” falling. Watch for fun and excitement between Cascade Locks and Rooster Rock, where a full-on blizzard, due to easterlies in the 35-45+mph range, seems likely. Remember, if the freeway closes, you are free to take your snowmobile for a ride down I-84. (And please don’t quote me on that when OSP comes after you on their sled)

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 button at the bottom of the page. For a suggested donation of $10, I’ll add you to the email version of this list ‘til November 2011, putting you in the running for cool prizes donated by the weekly sponsors.

Categories
Forecast

12/16 forecast



The Clymb: free membership.
Access to super cheap gear including Trew, Zeal, Sierra Designs, and many more.

—

Good morning!

Every once in a while the sun comes out during a Pacific Northwest winter. If you’d like to see the sun today, head up to the mountains, where the sun will shine for a good part of the day.

It looks like high pressure will keep us sunny today and possibly part of tomorrow (although high clouds look more likely on the hill tomorrow). We’re not going to see much if any precipitation, either in the Gorge or on the mountain, through tomorrow evening. Between now and then, we’re going to see east winds pick up through the Gorge in response to high pressure in the desert and a strong upper level low off the coast.

Easterlies slowly build tomorrow into the 20-25 range at Stevenson and 25-30 range at Rooster, but by early Saturday morning, we’ll see east winds in excess of 40mph at Rooster. Starting between 5 and 7am Saturday morning, all hell breaks loose in the Gorge, with a mix freezing rain (western Gorge) and snow (HR, HRV, Odell and Parkdale). At this point, a deep, cold air mass in the desert suggests we’ll see snow down to river level all day on Saturday with several inches (or more) of accumulation.

Bad news in the Gorge is good news on the mountain, where snow begins falling around 7am on Saturday. The deep cold pool is a bit of a concern, as there’s a slight chance of a significant wind event on Saturday morning. By Sunday morning, we’ll have 10-12” of new. The bulk of that new snow will fall before 7pm on Saturday. A break overnight Saturday gives way to more snow starting early morning Sunday, with a total of 4-6” of new by 7pm. Snow levels during this period will be at or below 2000 feet. Winds on Saturday (assuming we don’t see some sort of rare downslope event) will be in the 20-25 range. Sunday winds will be in the 15-20mph range. We’ll see more snow overnight Sunday, but I’m not guessing on amounts, as model variations are … variable.

If you’re going to be up skiing on Sunday, check out the NW Demo Tour at Meadows. There will be a ton of free ski and snowboard demos. If you haven’t had a chance to try any of the new rockered skis and snowboards, this is your chance. Be prepared to fall in love with some new gear.

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 button at the bottom of the page. For a suggested donation of $10, I’ll add you to the email version of this list ‘til November 2011, putting you in the running for cool prizes donated by the weekly sponsors.