Forecast - The Gorge is my Gym

Good morning!

Updated at 9:00 Thursday.

The forecast is brought to you this week by 2nd Wind Sports. They’ve got competitive prices, awesome staff, and they’ll consign your extra gear so your car can fit in your garage (okay, maybe not your car, but at least that next new piece of equipment). I do not know if they’ll consign your car. Seriously, 2nd Wind is a great shop, the staff is the most positive and helpful and cheerful in town (no kidding), and I spend way too much time and money there. You should too!

NoAA’s calling for an even 100 degrees in The Dalles today, and 98 in Hood River, and that means it’s time to visit your favorite swimming hole. If you haven’t been to the Punchbowl yet this year, today is the day. Either that or it’s another day to spend on or in a river. If you want to run the Klickitat this evening, let me know. There is a group of us going.

Windsurfing or kiting isn’t really going to happen today. Morning easterlies in the 15-18 range will fade towards afternoon, giving excellent waterskiing conditions through the Gorge. Scotty, did you hear me?

Believe it or not, west wind will return tomorrow afternoon as a weak layer of marine air pushes inland from the coast. Although the Gorge starts out glassy tomorrow morning, we’ll see blowdryer westerlies in the 17-20 range tomorrow afternoon from Stevenson to Hood River.

A weak disturbance hits the Northwest on Saturday, bringing a stronger marine push, better temperature gradients and stronger westerlies. Widespread low twenties or better is the long-range conservative call for Saturday. Sunday looks windy too.

Another believe it or not: the Post and Pint ride out of Dirty Fingers Bike Repair in Hood River is on for this evening, despite the heat. Meet at the shop at 5:30 for the hot lap. Mitchell is promising extra refreshing beverages (that’s more than one beer, not an extra refreshing beer) and cherries (he didn’t say that) for everyone who completes the ride today.

Finally, boaters, the White Salmon just below 2 ¾ and the Klickitat’s right around 1500 cfs , and if you’re not a boater, today is going to be a great day to do some whitewater rafting or take a kayak lesson! Give Wet Planet a call and say you want to take a kayaking lesson from Susan or Andy. They taught me, and they rock. Get out on the water!

That’s it for today. Whatever you do today, have an awesome day.

Temira

The Gorge is my oven. 7/7

Good morning!

This week’s report is brought to you by 2nd Wind Sports at 210 Oak Street in Hood River. 2nd Wind might look fancy now, but they still consign quality used gear (and some older gear that’s in great shape, for people looking for inexpensive equipment to get into a new sport). Consignment rates are reasonable, and they save you the trouble of trying to sell your gear yourself. Give them a call today at 541-386-4464 to see if they can help create some space in your garage! Thanks to 2nd Wind for donating a Slingshot B-2 trainer kite for a giveaway on the email version of this forecast!

It’s time to break out the bikinis, sunscreen and cold drinks as the mercury’s going to climb to 95 degrees in the central Gorge today. Fortunately, there are plenty of ways to cool off. First, the glassy water from Hood River eastward is going to be awesome for wakeboarding and standup paddling, along with rowing if you happen to have a shell.

If you’d prefer wind sports, head to Stevenson, Home Valley or Rooster Rock today for east winds in the 13-16 range early, building to 21-24 midday, and fading to the 17-20 range this afternoon. The easterlies back off a notch tomorrow, with 13-16 all day long. If you’re headed to the coast, today is your best bet for wind, with 25+ from the Washington border to California, with an 8 foot swell. After today, the wind turns offshore, meaning you’ll have better luck with a surfboard than with windsports.

If there’s any wind at all tonight in Hood River, it’s the Yacht club’s Wednesday night races. Show up at the dock at 5:30 with your puppy dog eyes and cold drinks, and you’ll probably get on a boat.

Boaters, the White Salmon’s at 2 ¾ feet and the Klickitat’s at 1490 cfs. If you’re want boating partners today, it’s Zen and the art of Heat Avoidance that’s laps on the Lower followed by a bbq of delicious hamburgers and gourmet sausages at Northwestern Lake. Meeting time is around 11am at the lake, but you can join in any time. Can you guess who organized this one? Yep, me. The giveaway is all the meat involved. Hope to see you there!

Coming up this weekend is Kiteboarding for Cancer, an awesome event that’s raised over $200k for cancer research over the last few years. If you’ve been affected by cancer in some way (haven’t we all?), please donate to one of the 2nd Wind teams (or any other team):

TEAM IRV : (Pepi, Nate, Irv, and Jason)
http://www.kb4c.org/team_detail.cfm?a=96

2nd Wind Chicks : (Anna, Lisa, Arla, and Claire)
http://www.kb4c.org/team_detail.cfm?a=117

Finally, thanks to Mark T. for the first-hand report of Plains of Abraham. He says there are about 15 short snow patches on the Plain, and that Ape Canyon is in perfect shape. He wins brownies!

That’s it for today. Whatever you do today, have an awesome day!

Temira

P.S. If this forecast is valuable to you, please take the time to donate below and help subsidize my costs. For a suggested donation of $10, I’ll sign you up for the email version of this forecast through the end of next May. You’ll get a near-daily email in summer, snow reports in winter, and a chance to win a cool weekly prize (through September, at least)… Thank you!