The Gorge is my Gym

Thank you for using this forecast! It’s free to use, but it’s not free for me to write. I put about an hour a day into creating a (hopefully) accurate forecast, and I pay for the hosting on this website. If you find this service valuable (gets you the good days on the mountain, saves you gas and time, etc.) please donate. I’m just one gal with other jobs writing this for you! Your generosity keeps this going for everyone. I also send an email version of this forecast. Make a $12 or larger donation, and you’re on the email list for a year. No dealing with the twice-yearly pledge drive. You’ll also have a chance to win prizes from the sponsors, when I have prizes to give. Thank you again for your support!

Mt. Hood Snow Forecast – 5000′
	4a-8a	8a-12p	12p-4p	4p-8p	8p-4a
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday

It’s very hard to look at Crystal Mountain’s website and see almost three feet of untracked snow waiting for Tuesday morning. As a matter of fact, it was so hard that I’m going up there. So, this will be the last forecast posted until Thursday morning.

In the meantime, a quick reminder of events. On Thursday night, there’s indoor ultimate frisbee at 8:30 at the Hood River Middle School. On Friday night, Columbia Center for the Arts hosts the kayaking movie “Congo”. Everything I’ve heard says that this movie is a mindblowing chronicle of the first descent of the Congo River. I’m going. You should too. 7Pm Friday, $12. Get your tickets at Columbia Center for the Arts or the Kayak Shed.

In Gorge weather news, expect showers and sunbreaks on Tuesday. Tuesday night into Wednesday will likely bring snow, with a few inches in town early Wednesday. The switch to west gradients and warmer temperatures could happen as late as Wednesday afternoon, meaning the snow could continue for much of the day.

The Clymb: free membership. Cheap gear. Temira approves. Click to join.

Up on Mt. Hood. Tuesday starts with snow flurries and the snow level at 500′. The snow level will rise to 1000′ around noon, with partly cloudy skies and flurreis. Total precip will be .2” water value (WV) in the morning, for 1-3” of new snow. There will be no significant accumulation overnight. Wind on Tuesday will be SW 20 early, swinging to W 20 by noon.

Wednesday sees snowfall start around 4am, with the snow level slowly rising to 5500′ by 4pm. It will fall back to 2000′ by 10pm. Total precip will be .7” WV by 4pm for 5-7” of snow. Another 1-1.5” WV falls between 4pm and 4am for 10-16” of new snow. There will likely be a brief period of sleet or freezing rain or even maybe rain between 2pm and 7pm. Wind on Wednesday will be SW 35-40 early, risign to SW 45-50 by 7am and holding for the rest of the day, likely becoming more westerly late in the evening.

Thursday sees lots of new snow on the ground, with light snow during the day. The snow level will be around 2500′ all day, with .3” WV before 4pm giving 3-4” of new. Another .2” WV will fall overnight, for a few more inches. Wind on Thursday will be SW 30.

At this point, Friday looks much likely Thursday. Snow and low freezing levels continue through the weekend.

Have an awesome day today!

Temira

Thank you for using this forecast! It’s free to use, but it’s not free for me to write. I put about an hour a day into creating a (hopefully) accurate forecast, and I pay for the hosting on this website. If you find this service valuable (gets you the good days on the mountain, saves you gas and time, etc.) please donate. I’m just one gal with other jobs writing this for you! Your generosity keeps this going for everyone. I also send an email version of this forecast. Make a $12 or larger donation, and you’re on the email list for a year. No dealing with the twice-yearly pledge drive. You’ll also have a chance to win prizes from the sponsors, when I have prizes to give. Thank you again for your support!

Mt. Hood Snow Forecast – 5000′
	4a-8a	8a-12p	12p-4p	4p-8p	8p-4a
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday

In a triumph of forecasting prowess, I made it rain on Mt. Hood for a while last last night. What? The forecast doesn’t make the weather? It’s the other way around? Judging by the emails I get, you’d think I was in charge of the weather, not the forecasting!

If you prefer your snow in the Gorge, you will get it. Odell and Parkdale will see a bit tonight, and a bit more tomorrow. Everyone gets snow on Wednesday, with an inch or two of sticking snow all the way down to the river early Wednesday morning. That’s the long-range forecast. Honestly, it could snow quite a bit more, depending on when the gradients switch from east to west. I’ll have a better idea of that tomorrow. In gorge wind, it’s going to nuke out east today. Head to Arlington for 35+. Maybe we’ll see strong wind through the rest of the Gorge too. As always, it’s hard to tell from the models in the winter, so check the satellite picture and head east of the cloud line.

Anyway, it’s snowing and blowing on Mt. Hood this morning, but the strongest wind field has already moved through. We got very lucky… if it had come through 6 hours later, there would have been no lifts running today. Timing is everything! The snow level has been dropping all night, and will continue to drop today from 2000′ this morning to 500′ this afternoon. We’ll see around 1.2” water value (WV) today for 10-16” of new snow, followed by another .2” WV overnight for 2-3” more by Tuesday morning. Wind today will be W 40-60 early, going to WNW 50 by 10am, WNW 40 in the afternoon and W 25 overnight.

The Clymb: free membership. Cheap gear. Temira approves. Click to join.

Tuesday starts off with flurries, becoming partly cloudy with orographic flurries in the afternoon. The snow level will be at 500′. We’ll see .2” WV by 4pm, for 1-3” of new, mostly before noon. Flurries continue overnight for no significant accumulation. Wind Tuesday will be WSW 25 in the morning, W 20 mid-morning and NW 20-25 in the afternoon.

The next system moves in Wednesday. The snow level starts at the surface, rising to 2000′ by 10am, climbing to 5000′ at 4pm and then dropping back to 3000′ at 7pm. Snow starts falling around 4am, with .3-.4”, for 2-3” of new. After 4pm, precip increases, with 1” WV by 4am Thursday, for 9-12” of new snow.

The snow level on Thursday will be at 1500′, with continued moderate snowfall and moderate wind.

Have an awesome day today!

Temira