Forecast - The Gorge is my Gym

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

—

Good morning!

My night snow reporter put this on the Meadows website last night: “Come take a ride on the Pineapple Express.” If you want to ride that train (and god knows why you might want to), you can head to Meadows, T-Line or Skibowl. A much better way to ride the Pineapple Express would be to go boating today. The Hood’s at 9.7 feet, the White Salmon’s right around 4 feet, the Klickitat’s at 3160 cfs, and the Wind River is at (are you nuts?) 11.5 feet. Now, that’s what I call taking a ride on the Pineapple Express.

If you’d prefer to ride the La Nina Express, she’ll be pulling into the station overnight tonight. Rain will change to snow from 4500’ up sometime between midnight and 4am. By tomorrow afternoon, we’ll have 6-8” of new on the slopes with snow levels dropping to 3000’ and temperatures in the mid to upper twenties at 5000’. The bulk of the snow will fall between 2am and 2pm. Along with this storm, we’ll see wind. Averages at MHM will be near 20mph with gusts near 40mph. Expect early morning conditions of dust-on-crust on the slopes, improving to deeper powder over crust by afternoon. Skibowl night skiing will likely be very good tomorrow night, as will the afternoon session at Meadows.

By Wednesday morning, we’ll have a total of 13-16” of new snow from this storm with snow levels at 2500’ or so. Another 4-6” of snow will fall during the day Wednesday, with winds in the 10-15mph range. Wednesday should be near-epic.

Thursday and Friday look dry, with possible sunshine on the slopes and a chance of (finally) seeing some upper lifts and terrain open.

By Saturday, we’ll be back to stormy weather. With cold continental air trapped in the desert and east winds blasting through the Gorge at the end of the week, there’s a good chance we’ll see another round of wintry weather in the Gorge. This is getting a little ridiculous, isn’t it?

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.

Good morning!

It’s still raining on the snow in the mountains. If you want to hit the ski areas, feel free, although you’d better do so this morning before another round of tropical rain hits Mt. Hood around midday for another 2” or rain or so by tomorrow.

Tomorrow looks rainy, but it looks like the weather will improve on the slopes tomorrow night, with snow levels slowly dropping to 5000 feet by early Tuesday morning. With 1-1.5” of water equivalent expected during the day Monday, conditions on the slopes should be pow-pow (or at least new snow) over wet muck, with decent bonding, by Monday night. It’s hard to say how much of that moisture will fall as snow and how much will fall as rain. I can tell you winds will be light, at 10-20 on Monday.

Snow levels keep falling during the day Tuesday, bottoming out around 2500 feet. However, winds will be in the 30-40mph range all day Tuesday. If you can handle the wind, conditions on the slopes should be worth the drive by Tuesday afternoon. We’re expecting another 1-1.5” of water value during the day Tuesday, so by Wednesday morning, we’re looking at a total 12-15” of pow-pow, maybe even more.

Wednesday looks cold, with snow levels around 3500 feet, winds at 15-25mph, and 3-5” of snow falling during the day.

Winsurfers and kiters will have a chance to hit the river Tuesday afternoon after a strong cold front passes. Gusty 30+mph out in the desert seems like a safe call.

If you’re a boater, the Hood is at a stunning 7.46 feet this morning, the Klickitat’s at a really nice 1180 cfs, and I don’t have a read on the White Salmon. If you like looking at stunning whitewater, head to the old Powerdale dam site (go out Tucker Road, head straight at Nobi’s to Orchard Road, head to the T and take a left on the dirt road called Copper Dam Road) and look at Big Bear Rapid.

Have an awesome day today!