Categories
Forecast

3/29 Mt. Hood Snow Forecast

Paramount Energy Solutions - Solar for zero down
Enter “Temira” as your referral code

Disclaimer: This forecast is for entertainment only. Don’t use it to plan your skiing, snowboarding or travel schedule, even though I do. Although I work for Meadows, this forecast is not endorsed by Meadows and does not reflect the views of the resort. Nobody pays me to write this report (unless you make a donation), so please share the link with your friends and help me increase my hits! Thank you!

Mt. Hood Snow Forecast – 5000′
4a-8a 8a-12p 12p-4p 4p-8p 8p-4a
Thursday
Friday
Saturday

Good morning,

Sometimes I like to glance at NOAA’s forecast in the morning. If you can ignore the mid-thirties temps and believe the forecast, Mt. Hood will get 5 feet or more of new snow in the next four days. At higher elevations, this is 100% correct. At lower elevations, we’ll see 4-7” water equivalent over the next four days. Wow. That’s a lot of water value, right?

Today sees the snow level at 4500-5000’ early, rising to 5500’-6000’ by 8am and 7000’ mid-afternoon, falling to 6000’ overnight. Wind will be SW 50-55 today, picking up to 55-60 mid-afternoon. We’ll see .8” water value (WV) by 4pm, for 3-4” of new, followed by a mix of rain and snow starting mid-morning. We’ll see another 2” WV (yes, two inches, not point-two-inches) tonight into Friday morning.

That 2” WV will fall as a mix of rain and snow. The snow level will be 6000’ overnight, dropping to 5500’ around 4am, when we’ll see a transition to all snow. So… higher elevations will see 18-24” of new Thursday night into Friday morning. Elevations under 5500’ will see either very wet snow or rain or a mix. The snow level Friday will drop to 5000’ by 11am, 3000’ by 5pm and 1500’ by 11pm. Wind will be SW 40-45 most of the day, dropping to 20-25 late in the evening. We’ll see 1.5-2.5” WV from 4am-4pm Friday, for 10-16”+ at 5000’ and a LOT of new snow up high. Do not head to the ski resort without a shovel, as you’ll need it to get out of the parking lot.

Precip continues overnight Friday, with another .3-.4” WV by Saturday morning. With a warm blob of air above a cold blob of air in the wee hours, there’s a chance of freezing rain from 2am-10am. If there’s no freezing rain, we’ll get 2-3” of snow. We’ll see another .3-.4” WV during the day, for 3-4” of new snow. The freezing level will be 2000’ early, rising to 5000’ around 11am, dropping to 4500’ at 5pm, and crashing to 1500’ or less around 8pm as the front crosses the Cascades. This dramatic drop in temps will cause some wind chaos: The wind will be SW 40-50 early, dropping to SW 35-40 midday, picking up to 40-45 around 5pm, and then, as the front moves overhead, swinging to a chaotic NW 45-50 at 8pm.

Snow continues Saturday night into Sunday, with .4-.5” WV by 4am, for 5-7” of new snow overnight, followed by .6” WV during the day, for another 6-8”. The snow level will be less than 1000’ Sunday morning, rising to 2000’ in the afternoon. Wind will be W 40 early, swinging to WSW 35-40 at 8am, picking up to WSW 45-50 at 2pm, and holding through the rest of the day.

The active weather pattern continues Monday and Tuesday, with more snow.

Windsurfers and kiters get low-quality, gusty wind, switching back and forth between east and west, with the exception of overnight Saturday, when it’s going to blow 40+ in the eastern Gorge in the darkness. You might catch some leftovers Sunday morning, but go early, because it won’t last all day.

In events, it’s Hood River Appreciation Days at the HRM lodge at Meadows on Saturday, the Dummy Downhill at Skibowl Saturday, and a HRATS work party on a ton of Post Canyon trails on Saturday, with refreshments provided by New York City Subs, 10 Speed Coffee and Dirty Fingers Bike Repair.

Have an awesome day.

Temira

p.s. If you find this report useful, entertaining, or just want to recognize all the hard work that goes into it, please take the time to make a donation by clicking on the link below. For a suggested donation of $10, I’ll add you to the email version of this list ‘til March 2013, putting you in the running for cool prizes donated by the weekly sponsors during the summer season (and the winter if I get off my bum and get some!). If you don’t PayPal, you can send a donation to PO Box 841 in Hood River, 97031.










Categories
Forecast

3/28 Mt. Hood Snow Forecast

Paramount Energy Solutions - Solar for zero down
Enter “Temira” as your referral code

Disclaimer: This forecast is for entertainment only. Don’t use it to plan your skiing, snowboarding or travel schedule, even though I do. Although I work for Meadows, this forecast is not endorsed by Meadows and does not reflect the views of the resort. Nobody pays me to write this report (unless you make a donation), so please share the link with your friends and help me increase my hits! Thank you!

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

Good morning,

For those of you waiting for spring, I’m sorry to say that there’s really no end in sight to winter. Long-term models show, for the most part, one big system after another colliding with the PNW through the next week.

Today will be relatively calm in the Cascades, but don’t let that fool you. We’ll see the freezing level at 2000′ this morning, 4000′ this afternoon and 2500′ this evening, with partly cloudy skies and intermittent snow flurries. Total precip will be .1-.2” through the day, for an inch or maybe up to 2” of new snow. Wind today will be SW 35-40 all day and all night.

The next round of precip hits Thursday morning around 2am, and the precip type is going to be questionable between 2am and 11am. The freezing level will be 3000′ at 2am, 3500′ at 5am and 5000′ at 11am, before dropping back to 2000′ at 2pm and 4000′ at 8pm. Wind will be SW 45-50 early, rising to 50-60 at 5am, 45-65 at 11am and ropping back to 35-45 at 2pm and 20-30 at 8pm. So, back to the precip… light precip before 5am for .2” WV. Heavy precip 5am-2pm. Very heavy precip after 2pm. Total of 1-1.5”+ WV by 5pm, for 12”+ of new snow during the day, minus the possibility of freezing rain between 2am and 11am.

Snow continues overnight Thursday, but the snow level is going to be questionable during the day Friday. First, we’ll see .8” WV Thursday night into Friday morning for 4-6” of new snow. The snow level during the day Friday will be 4000′ at 2am, 5500′ at 5am, 6000′ at 8am, before dropping back to 4000′ around 11am, when precip will taper off for a few hours. We may see freezing rain before 5am, before a switch to very heavy rain or very heavy, very wet snow. Precip between 5am and 5pm will be 1-1.5” WV for 3-4” of new at 5000′. Wind on Friday will be SW 30-35 early, rising to 40-45 by 8am, switching to W 30-35 around noon, and then slowly backing to light and variable wind by 8pm.

Heavy snowfall picks up again around 8pm, for 1-1.5” WV by Saturday morning, for 10-14” of new snow, although the southerly direction of this storm may give Mt. Hood less snow than models predict. Heavy snowfall continues through 11am, after which we’ll have flurries and partly cloudy conditions. The snow level will be 3000′ Saturday morning, dropping briefly to 1000′ before rising to 4000′ by 2pm, and then dropping to 2000′ overnight. Wind Saturday will be SSW 20-30 early, SW 30-35 at 8am, 40-45 at 2pm, swinging to W 40+ by 8pm. If this system comes in earlier than predicted and on a worse track than is currently predicted, we could really get hammered by the wind.

Sunday morning sees another 4-6” of snow on the ground, with snow flurries. Monday looks like a brief break in the weather before the next system crashes into the Cascades sometime Tuesday.

In the wind forecast, we’re still going to be on this back-and-forth regimen of east-west-east as fronts cross the mountains and lows swing up the coast. The one exception is Saturday night, when the eastern Gorge will see 40+, most likely after dark, sadly.

Coming up this weekend: Hood River Appreciation Days at Meadows and the Dummy Downhill at Skibowl. Also, for you mountain bikers, there’s another HRATS.org Post Canyon work party. Meet at 10 Speed Coffee Saturday between 8:30 and 9am. This work party will be on Upper 8-Track, Blue Car, and other areas.

Have an awesome day.

Temira

p.s. If you find this report useful, entertaining, or just want to recognize all the hard work that goes into it, please take the time to make a donation by clicking on the link below. For a suggested donation of $10, I’ll add you to the email version of this list ‘til March 2013, putting you in the running for cool prizes donated by the weekly sponsors during the summer season (and the winter if I get off my bum and get some!). If you don’t PayPal, you can send a donation to PO Box 841 in Hood River, 97031.