Thank you for using this forecast. Like it? Find it useful? Support it (and me!) by sending some cash my way. Why? It takes me an hour or two each morning to produce this, and it makes your life better, safer, and more fun. That’s worth something! You can get the email version sent to you. Not $99 a year. Nope. Not $49. Just $12.34 or more gets you a subscription. Click below to give financial support. Thank you!!
Credit card payments click here – – – – – – – – – Click here to use your PayPal
Venmo: @theGorgeismyGym
Snail Mail: PO Box 841, Hood River, Oregon 97031
(note: I am not a non-profit entity. The only way to accept credit cards with a user-defined amount is to use the ‘donate’ button. Thanks for understanding!)
Auto-renewing subscription. New! Awesome!
The Forecast
| 4a-8a | 8a-12p | 12p-4p | 4p-8p | 8p-4a | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tuesday 4500′->1500′ |
 |
|
 |
|
 |
| Wednesday 1500′->500′ |
|
|
|
|
|
| Thursday 500′ |
|
 |
|
|
|
Mt. Hood Weather Forecast
If you like snow, you are going to love this forecast, especially the weekend. It’s been a slow start to the winter so far, but if this forecast holds, we’re going to do some serious snowpack building starting on Friday and possibly continuing all through the weekend. Even better, there’s good news for Mt. Hood between now and the weekend!For Tuesday, we’ll just have light snowfall during the day. The next weather system, a strong cold front, moves in from the NW tonight, taking the snow level from 4000′ down to a powder-producing 1500′. Precip during the day will be just a trace to 0.1” water value (WV), for up to an inch of new. Heavier snowfall arrives around 4pm, dropping 0.8” to 1.0” WV overnight. During this period, the snow level will drop from 4000′ to 1500′, resulting in increasingly fluffy snow. Strong wind will also add an orographic component to the accumulation. 8 to 12 inches of snow seems reasonable by Wednesday morning. Wind will be SW 20-30 during the day, and will turn to W 40 overnight.
Full on storm skiing starts Wednesday before the wind and snowfall back off a little in the afternoon. The snow level will be 1500′ early and down around 500-1000′ in the evening and overnight. About 0.3-0.4” WV falls during the day, for 3-5” of powder. Another 0.2” WV falls overnight, for a couple more inches. Wind will be W 40 in the morning – that’s storm skiing conditions – and will drop to W 25 in the afternoon before turning to NW 15-20 overnight.
Thursday’s the only dry day this week. Expect early clouds on the mountain to clear, for a brilliant, cold, sunny day. Clouds return overnight. The free air freezing level will be about 500′ for this period. Wind will be NW 15-20 early, building to NW 30-35 in the afternoon (affecting lifts) and turning to SW 10-15 ahead of the next system overnight.
Things get really interesting starting Friday. A system drops in from the NW Friday night and gets a weak tap into some sub-tropical moisture. It also links up with a 110kt jet. With 5000′ temps dropping from 0-2C to -2C in this time period, we’ve got a great setup for significant snow. The current GFS forecast, subject to change, is for 2-2.5” WV in the 24 hour period ending Saturday morning. That translates to a couple feet of new snow. The fun keeps coming with another 1.4” WV forecast for Saturday daytime – another foot to a foot-and-a-half. If the GFS forecast holds (and there’s a LOT of uncertainty), another 2-3 feet is possible by the start of next week.
So, essentially, the details are not clear due to model uncertainty, but it sure does look like Mt. Hood is going to get a ton of new snow and some epic storm skiing conditions all weekend long!
Gorge Wind Forecast
Westerlies continue for the next several days as offshore high pressure and a northwest flow pattern dominate the Northwest. Tuesday starts out light and variable. Central Gorge wind rises to 5-8. Rooster to Viento will pick up to 18-22, as will Arlington. River flow is 71,300cfs and temp is 42 degrees.Wednesday looks windy as strong offshore high pressure combines with a low moving inland. Expect morning westerlies at gusty 22-27 through the whole Gorge. The wind backs off to 13-16 in the west and picks up to 24-28 from The Dalles to Arlington midday. The wind then backs off more to 10-13 in the afternoon as a low approaches the coast. Westerlies start at 10-13 on Thursday morning. In the afternoon, the wind picks up to 24-27 from Stevenson to The Dalles with 10-13 farther east. Models continue to hint at a big westerly day on Saturday.
COAST, JONES, SAUVIE’S: Detailed forecast is on winter break.
Hood River Weather Forecast
Tuesday looks like a cloudy day, all day. Showers during the day give way to actual rain after 1pm. Temps will be in the upper 40’s all day long, nearing 50. Light west wind. 84% chance of rainbows. Wednesday looks mostly cloudy with showers. Temps will be in the upper 30’s early and low 40’s later. Moderate to strong westerlies fade in the afternoon. 99.99% chance of rainbows. Snow level 1500′ early and 500′ overnight. Thursday looks dry and partly cloudy with icy roads. Temps will be in the mid 30’s early and low 40’s in the afternoon. Light westerlies early. Moderate to strong in the afternoon. 8% chance of rainbows, only in the morning. Looking for a complete Columbia Gorge forecast? Looking for more humor in your weather? Obscenities? You’re looking for my TATAS: Temira’s Awesome Travel Advisory Service on Facebook.Road and Mountain Biking
It’s very wet on the trails. Very muddy. Please do not ride them, or you will damage them. Thank you for protecting these valuable, volunteer-maintained resources!Upcoming Events
It’s Tuesday: at 6am on Tuesday’s, you can do the Kaino’s coffee run in The Dalles for a free cup of coffee, or you can do Zen meditation at Trinity Natural Medicine in Hood River. At 5:15 tonight, there’s a silent hour of meditation at Yoga Samadhi, and there’s guided meditation at 6:30. There’s free youth yoga at HAVEN in The Dalles at 6, and there’s Zumba Gold at the Hood River Adult Center at 6.
White Sprinter Van of the Week!
Click here for the White Sprinter Van map of the world!!!
Random Morning Thoughts: on vacation.
Click here for the full events calendar.
Have an awesome day today!
Temira