The Gorge is my Gym

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Good morning!

If resort pass sales have an effect on the weather, as it appears they might, I’m going to suggest that the spring pass go on sale on November 1st every year. The next week or so does not look springlike at all.

Today will be snowy. Tomorrow will be snowy (hopefully). Thursday will be snowy. Friday will be not-snowy. Saturday will be snowy. Sunday will be snowy. Monday will be snowy.

Have a nice day.

Okay, okay… The snow level this morning is around 3000’ or so, and will hold in the 3000’-4000’ range until midnight when a warm front enters the weather picture. We’ll see moderate to heavy snow through 1pm, becoming light to moderate through the evening, becoming heavy again around midnight. However, by midnight the snow level will be around 5500’, so we may see a mix of snow and rain overnight, or heavy snow at best. We’ll see around .75” of water value before midnight for 7-9” of new snow, mostly falling this morning while I’m desperately busting butt working so I can get to the mountain. Winds today will be SW 20-30, switching to a not-very-pleasant WNW 35-45 around noon, going back to WSW 20-25 by 7pm.

Tomorrow looks a bit warm for my taste. The snow level at 1am will be at 5500-6000’, according to models, holding during the day, and falling to 5000’ by 7pm. Precip will be moderate to heavy before 10am, becoming light, with moderate to heavy precip picking up again around 1pm and continuing through Thursday morning. The heavy precip may cool things down just enough to keep this as wet snow, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see just a bit of r**n mixed in. Total water value will be 1-1.5” for 3-4” of wet snow down low and 12-16” of snow up high. Winds will be SW 20-30 early, building to SW 40-50 by 1pm, dropping briefly into the 35-40 range before building to SW 50-60 overnight.

Thursday looks fun if the lifts (and you) can handle some serious storming as an upper level low charges across Washington. The snow level will be at 4500’ by 4am, falling to 3000’ by 10am, and plummeting to 1500’ by 4pm. Moderate to heavy snow falls from midnight through 7pm, becoming light to moderate late in the day. Models snow .5-.75” of precip, but I wouldn’t be surprised, given orographic help, for Mt. Hood to see 1-1.25” for 12-15” of new snow during the day. Winds will be an issue. WSW 35-45 early goes to SW 55-65 by 1pm (problematic), swinging to WNW 40-50 as the front passes around 4pm (very problematic). Like I said, storm skiing, and honestly, given the path of this system, I wouldn’t be surprised to see much stronger winds than models are predicting.

By Friday morning, the storm will be gone and the snow level will be hanging in the 1000-2000’ range. It will be dry, and likely sunny. Winds will be W 15-20, switching to a barely noticable S 15-20 by early afternoon.

Saturday looks snowy, Sunday looks snowy, and Monday holds potential for excellent skiing.

If you’re one of those crazy wind-Johnnies who likes 39 degree water and big swell, Arlington, Roosevelt and Threemile will be going off on Thursday afternoon. 35-40mph seems like a fair call. Laura? Dave Brown?

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 sad-looking link below. For a suggested donation of $10, I’ll add you to the email version of this list ‘til February 2012, putting you in the running for cool prizes donated by the weekly sponsors.

The Clymb: free membership.
Access to super cheap gear including Trew, Zeal, Sierra Designs, and many more.

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Good morning!

First off, an update at 7:40am. To the f***ing bastards who broke into my friend’s bike shop and stole bikes last night, I hope you find yourself stuck on the road daily with a flat tire. I hope your car catches fire and burns to the ground and you have no way to get around. I hope any bike you ever own requires a new drive train every 6 months, and I hope you realize what evil, horrible people you are and suffer from guilt and depression until you pay penance and show remorse and make it up to the world by providing bikes to people who can’t afford them. Anyone who steals bikes deserves to rot in hell (if I believed in such at thing) or at least experience hell and purgatory on earth. Bikes bring people happiness, and when you steal bikes, you steal people’s joy. Take those bikes back to Mitchell’s shop now.

Okay, on to the forecast.

People keep asking me when we set the clocks ahead. That doesn’t have much to do with weather, but it does have a lot to do if you get to play after work (assuming you’re not one of my got-their-priorities straight friends with a flexible schedule). We spring ahead at 2am on March 13th this year. That’s just a week away… you are one week from mountain biking and road riding and kayaking after work!

But I am sure you want to know what you’re doing between now and then, right? Well, you’re going storm skiing, unless you’re going today. Today looks mellow on the hill, with snow levels around 1000’. This morning looks clear, but clouds will move in midday, with flurries starting around 1pm. Total accumulation will be less than 1” of snow. Winds will be NW 20-30 early, going to SW 15-25 by 4pm as the warm front approaches.

The snow level rises overnight tonight, hitting 4500-5000’ by tomorrow morning, but falling to 4000’ by 1pm and 3500’ by 7pm. Snow starts by 1am, becoming moderate to heavy from 4am to 4pm and becoming light overnight. Total precip will be .5-.75” for 6-9” of new snow. Winds start off SW 15-25, building to a very stormy and potentially lift-disrupting W 40-45 by 11am (sounds fun to me), holding through the day, and backing off the WSW 30-35 by 7pm.

Wednesday is turning out to be a pain to forecast. The snow level will be at 5000-5500’ Wednesday morning, rising to 6000’ by 4pm, holding for 4-6 hours and then falling to 4000’ by 4am Thursday. In addition to the borderline freezing level, it’s unclear just where the bulk of the moisture will hit. At this point, it looks like it will stay north of us, giving us around .5-.75” of water value, but a small shift in the storm’s track could send us into the 1.25-1.75” WV range. So for now, I’ll say wet snow starting around 1am, with a period of very wet snow, snain or snow mixed with rain around 4-7pm. Total accumulation will be 3-4” of slop down low and 6-9” of snow up high. Winds Wednesday will be SW 30-40 to start, going to 35-45 by 7am, building to 45-55 by 1pm and switching to WSW 45-50 by 7pm. Disruptive? Probably not, as the wind direction is going to spare the lower slopes of the ski resorts.

The snow level falls to 4000’ overnight Wednesday, hitting 4000’ by 4am Thursday, falling to 3500’ by 10am and falling further to 1500-2000’ by 7pm. Total precip Thursday will be 1-1.5” WV for 12-18” of new snow, falling in a heavy, steady manner from 4am through midnight. That sounds great, but there’s a very good chance you won’t see chairlifts running on Thursday afternoon as the upper level low associated with this system tracks straight across the middle of Washington, leaving Mt. Hood in the nasty southern side of the storm. Fresh-baked brownies or bread for the first person who emails me the technical name for the “nasty southern side of the storm.” Winds will be a tolerable SW 40-50 early, going to SW 45-55+ by 1pm, building to WSW 60-70+ by 4pm and hitting a disastrous WNW 50-55+ by 7pm. If the lifts run, it’s my kind of day. If not, it’s a Skibowl kind of night, and strangely, I already have an exchange letter for Thursday night. Funny how that works out, isn’t it? It’s great being the weather girl! 😉

Snow continues falling in some variety, depth and manner through the beginning of next week. Spring? Yeah, right.

Have a great day. See y’all on the slopes soon.

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 sad-looking link below. For a suggested donation of $10, I’ll add you to the email version of this list ‘til February 2012, putting you in the running for cool prizes donated by the weekly sponsors.