Category: Forecast

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Good morning!

Oh geez. Imagine that. It’s snowing in the Gorge again. If you’re enjoying this, and you enjoyed the last storm, you’ll love the rest of today. Snow will switch to freezing rain, and with .5”+ of water value headed this way, everything will be slippery soon. NOAA calls this a “wintry mix.” I call it pretty!

If you’re headed to the mountain, be forewarned with this. It’s snowing right now, but there’s a good chance we’ll see some rain around midmorning to midday at HRM and the MHM base lodge, as well as at Skibowl (although Skibowl’s location in a pass might help keep the precipitation frozen. We’ll also see increasing winds to 20g40mph. Why do I think it will rain? Current radiosonde readings show a low-level inversion and above-freezing air to about 9000 feet. Snow levels run about 1000 feet below freezing levels, but even with evaporative cooling, it’s a lot to ask of Mother Nature to keep the snow level at 5250 feet today.

Wow. That got technical.

Here’s the simpler version. It’s snowing now. It’s probably going to warm up and snain/rain at 5500’ and lower. If it doesn’t do that by 1pm, it’s going to stay snow. Lots of snow. 8-10” by 4pm. Another 8-10” overnight. Skip work tomorrow and ski. It doesn’t look like we’ll see bluebird tomorrow, but it should be light wind and decent visilibility.

Also, stay out of the backcountry. This is an upside-down storm falling on a weak layer of hoar on top, cold, light snow in the middle, and faceted snow underneath. It’s an avy mess in the making. Be glad Heather isn’t open, because it wouldn’t be open today.

For the rest of the week, we’ll see light snowfall Thursday, Friday and Saturday, and clearing Sunday, assuming the forecast holds. And we all know that’s a lot to assume.

Don’t forget about the 2nd Wind / USASA Rail Jam in downtown Hood River on Saturday. It’s going to be sick, dude!

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.

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

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Good morning!

Did you enjoy the last winter storm in the Gorge? Yes? Good, because there’s another one coming tonight. You have until approximately 6pm to get your Portland shopping done and get off I-84.

It looks like the east gradients, and therefore the cold continental air, will stick around through midday tomorrow. We are seeing more moderate temperatures to start this storm. – it’s 32 degrees in Hood River right now. Building gradients through the day will be a bad sign for the weather tonight. Expect the standard Gorge wintry mix from 7pm today to 1pm tomorrow.

On the mountain, where snow is fun, we’ll see snow. Well, we may see a period of rain, but we’ll mostly see snow. The snow level will be around 4500-5500 feet during the first part of this storm. We should see .75” – 1” of water value overnight. It’s likely going to be rain at Skibowl and the HRM base of Meadows starting around 4am.. I think we’ll see periods of rain at the MHM main lodge, but by 11am, everything should be falling as snow. Upper elevations should see 8-10” tonight. During the day tomorrow, another 12+” should fall. If you like storm skiing, go up tomorrow afternoon (20-30mph with higher gusts on the slopes). If you want better weather, go up Wednesday for powder under partly cloudy skies.

For a clear forecast for the rest of the week, ask the Magic 8 Ball. You’ll get just as good an answer as you’d get from the weather models at this point.

In other news, on Saturday, 2nd Wind is putting on a super sick rail jam in downtown Hood River. Stay tuned for more details! It’s also tree lighting night in Hood River.

And finally, the first night of Chanukah is Wednesday.

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.