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Yesterday was a pretty ridiculous windy day on the river, with head-high swell working its way down the Columbia. I think I was tired from the windsurfing, because I didn’t wake up until 8:30 today. Anyway, the wind today won’t be quite like yesterday, sadly. It’s an interesting picture this morning: high pressure has moved inland, but there are still some low clouds over Hood River and there’s still a .09 gradient between Portland and The Dalles.
So, I think we’ll still see 10-15 to start through much of the Gorge. By midday, we should have 15-18 from the Hatchery to Doug’s, picking up to 17-21 this afternoon.
We were counting on a weather system to come in tomorrow to make the wind stronger, but that system is going to hold off. So now, tomorrow looks like a 17-20 start, picking up to 21-24. Monday now looks quite windy, with 22-26 to start, picking up to 26-30 by midday, with the strongest wind in the Hood River to The Dalles section.
All this wind is great news for a couple of events in the western Gorge. At Cascade Locks this weekend, it’s the Moth National Championships. Moths are two-man planing sailboats that can go over 30 mph, so make a point to check that out. I think the world speed record is 30.8 knots. That’s fast in a sailboat. Can you imagine flipping one of them at those speeds? Also today and tomorrow, it’s the Wild Side Relay, with outrigger canoe and SurfSki racing from Stevenson to Bingen. If you’re doing other stuff in that section of the river, be careful, as those canoes and surfskis are hard to see.
If you didn’t hear already, today’s the last day of the Hood River County Fair. Tonight’s, a great chance to see meteors after midnight, with the Delta Aquarids meteor shower, and tomorrow, it’s Gorge Farm Day, by GorgeGrown, with a tour of local farms and ranches and vineyards. Also this weekend, the Columbia Gorge Bluegrass Festival in Stevenson. They do a cool thing there: workshops where you can try all sorts of instruments and get instruction.
Have an awesome day today!
Temira