Mt. Hood snow and Gorge wind forecast | The Gorge is my Gym

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Mt. Hood Snow Forecast – 5000′
Monday
Christmas
Wednesday

Happy Christmas Eve! Hopefully you’re dreaming of a White Christmas, because you’re going to get one. Snowpocalypse is coming to a Columbia Gorge near you. Since there’s only one Columbia Gorge, it’s obviously going to be your Gorge that gets worked over tomorrow. If you have plans to drive I-84 tomorrow, please change them and drive tonight. A powerful low pressure system moves due west of the Gorge over the Pacific, setting up a very strong east gradient by 7am, with 40+mph at Rooster and temps right around 32 degrees in the Gorge (and of course colder in the Upper Valley). With an east gradient that big, cold air will get pulled through the Gorge. Luckily, it’s not bitterly cold east of here, but it looks cold enough to cause trouble.

That east gradient won’t swing around until Wednesday morning, meaning the snow could fall that long, although I suspect it will turn to rain late Christmas day. Precip starts after 4am, with up to 1” of water value giving us 6+” of snow in the Gorge, with 12” possible in the Upper Valley.

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Really, I’m not joking. You don’t want to drive I-84 on Christmas. You might have studs or snow tires, but nobody else on the road does. Of course, I could be totally wrong, and it could all fall as rain. Or maybe freezing rain. Actually, there’s a pretty good chance the Upper Valley will see some freezing rain late tomorrow.

Anyway, on to the Mt. Hood forecast: Today sees snowfall early, quickly transitioning to snowfall mixed with sunbreaks and then clearing early afternoon followed by high clouds late afternoon. Just another inch or two will fall before clearing kicks in. The snow level will be around 1500′. Wind will be NW 35 this morning, 25-30 early afternoon, and 15-20 around 4pm. The wind turns to SW 15-20 overnight.

What causes trouble at sea level on Christmas is good weather on the mountain. However, the snow that falls on Mt. Hood from this system is going to be heavy, not powdery, due to the atmospheric profile. That said, snow starts around 4am with 1.5” water value (WV) falling by 4pm for 10-16” of new snow. Another .1-.2” WV falls overnight, for 1-3” more. The snow level will be at the surface (in the Gorge, anyway) until 4pm, when the snow level rises to 4000′. Worth noting is that temps at 5000′ will be in the mid to upper twenties, despite the low snow level – hence the not-powdery snow. Wind on Christmas will be SW 20 early, rising to SSW 40-50 during the day, falling to SW 30 around 4pm and slowly dropping overnight.

Wednesday sees more snow: About .5” WV between 4am and 4pm, for 5-6” of new. The snow level will be at 2500′ early, falling to 1500′ at 1pm. Wind will be SW 20 early, becoming W 25 midday and WNW 35 in the evening. Another .6-.8” WV falls Wednesday night into Thursday morning for another 6-9” of new snow.

Thursday sees high pressure start building in. Morning flurries give way to partly cloudy, maybe even sunny, skies by 10am. The freezing level will be 1500′ early, dropping to 1000′ mid-morning. Wind will be NW 25 early, dropping to NW 15 mid-morning and holding.

The extended forecast for Friday through Tuesday looks cold and clear. Finally. High pressure and sunshine!

Have an awesome day today!

Temira

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Mt. Hood Snow Forecast – 5000′
Sunday
Monday
Christmas

It’s Sunday, the day before the day before Christmas, and hopefully you have all your shopping done!

Gorge weather looks a little showery today, but not too bad. Tomorrow looks dry, but models suggest we’ll have an inversion layer, or at best, a broken inversion layer. The models still suggest a bad day for drivers on Tuesday, with very, very strong east gradients pulling cold air through the Gorge (go ahead and windsurf or kite, if you like doing it in 31-33 degree weather). With cold air at the surface and 1” of moisture headed this way, 4-6” of wet snow looks probable at river level and definite in the Upper Valley. The major complication with this system will be wind: 40mph at Rooster Rock means blizzard conditions along I-84, a recipe for a road closure at worst and incredibly hazardous, slushy driving at the least.

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Snow flurries continue on Mt. Hood today, with a chance of some sunbreaks in the afternoon. The snow level will be 1500′ in the morning and 2000′ in the evening. Approximately .3” WV falls by 4pm for 2-4” of new, with another .2-.3” overnight for 2-3” of new snow by Monday morning. Wind today will be SW 25 early, light and variable midday and W 25 in the evening.

There might be a few flurries Monday morning, but the sun will come out by mid-morning, for mostly clear skies on Mt. Hood, with high clouds moving in late afternoon The freezing level will be 1500′ all day. Wind will be WNW 35 early, 30 mid-morning and 15-20 in the afternoon.

Tuesday starts off cloudy, with snow starting around 4am. The snow level will be less than 500′ (at least near Hood River) in the morning, rising to around 4000′ in the afternoon (with continuing low freezing levels in the Gorge) Given the nature of this system, the snow will likely be heavy and fairly wet, despite the low freezing levels. About 1” WV falls by 4pm, for 8-10” of new snow. Another .4” falls by 4am Wednesday, for another 3-4”. Wind Tuesday will be S 20 early, SSW 35-40 through mid-afternoon and SW 20 in the evening.

Heavy snow continues Wednesday, with the snow level around 3500′ and around .5” WV for 4-7” of snow during the day, with another .5” WV overnight. Wind will be W 25 early, becoming NW 30 in the afternoon.

Have an awesome day today!

Temira