The Gorge is my Gym

Good morning!

It looks likes the boring sunshine is finally going away. That’s not really a good thing in my world, as I love mid-winter sun. It keeps me sane. However, it is what it is, and we’ll see the sun again sometime soon.

We’ll see high clouds on Mt. Hood today as a front makes its way into Oregon from the north. Winds will be light easterlies on the mountain this morning, switching to west 10-15mph by 1pm. The inverted temperatures will hold on the mountain all day today, with near- or above-freezing temperatures until 7pm.

Precipitation starts tonight around 1am Wednesday, with various models predicting .25” to .5” of water value. Snow levels will start off at the surface, rising to 5000-5500’, with a significant chance of a freezing rain episode on Mt. Hood and on Highway 35. If we see snow, and I think we will for the most part, we’ll see 2-4” of heavy sludge. Winds tonight rise to WSW 25-30 by tomorrow morning, briefly rising to 30-35 midday tomorrow, then decreasing slightly to W 20-25 in the evening.

Snow/rain ends by 1am on Thursday for a dry, cloudy day on the mountain with temperatures at/near/just above freezing. Free air freezing levels will be around 5500 feet, rising to 6500 feet by 10pm.

Friday starts of dry and cloudy, with snow levels rapidly falling to 2500’ by 4pm. Snow starts around 2pm, with .25” to .5” of water value expected, so it looks like we’ll see snow, not r-word. That should give us 4-6” of snow by Saturday morning. Winds on Friday start off at W 15-20mph, rising to WSW 25-35 by 10am, switching to SW 30-40 midday and then building to W 35-45 by 4pm and holding through the evening. Those evening westerlies could be troublesome to chairlifts.

At this point, the weekend forecast shows light snowfall on Saturday and sunshine on Sunday.

Your Gorge weather forecast includes snow tonight through Thursday morning, with an inch or two tonight and another inch or two before temperatures moderate tomorrow evening. Your Gorge windsurfing/kiting forecast, for insane people, includes east winds at 25-30 at Stevenson today and 30-35 at Rooster, fading rapidly this afternoon.

Have a great day today!

Temira

Good morning!

The forecast took a vacation for a few days, as the weather was boring and unchanging. Well, sunshine isn’t really boring, but repeating the phrase, “clear, cool, calm” over and over doesn’t make for much of a forecast read.

Today will be clear, cool and calm.

Tomorrow will be clear, cool and calm, with some high clouds moving in during the afternoon. Temperatures on Mt. Hood will be inverted through 4pm or so, with temps climbing just above freezing between 5000’ and 8000’. Winds tomorrow will be light, building to 10-15mph out of the west by 4pm. Light snowfall moves in overnight, for a total of 1-2” by 10am. Snow levels will be around 3000’, except in the Gorge and Hood River Valley, where the snow level will be at the surface.

During the day on Wednesday, freezing levels will rise to 4000’-4500’ by 4pm. Winds start the day at W 10-15mph, rising to W 15-20 by 4pm. Precipitation will be light and spotty during the day. In the Gorge, flow finally switches from east to west and temperatures climb above freezing by the afternoon.

Snow levels overnight Wednesday rise to 5500’. At this point, it looks like we’ll see less than .25” of water value, as the bulk of the system hits north of the Columbia River. Crystal and other Washington ski areas see significant snowfall. We’ll see 2-3” during the day Thursday. There is a chance we’ll see some freezing rain with this system. Winds Thursday will be W 15-20 all day long.

If you’re in the mood for windsurfing or kiting, winds will be 30+ at Stevenson and 40+ at Rooster today (it’s averaging 47mph at Rooster right now). Gradients weaken tomorrow, for 20+ at Stevenson and 30ish at Rooster, fading by afternoon.

Due to model discrepancies, the forecast for Thursday may be totally off, and I’m not going to touch the extended forecast.

Have a great day today!

Temira