The Gorge is my Gym

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Good morning!

It’s still snowing in the mountains. Well, it’s still snowing at Meadows and Timberline, but poor Skibowl is getting rain right now. Meadows had 7” in the last 24 hours at the base, but there’s likely quite a bit more new snow higher up. With colder temperatures up top yesterday, the snow was in good shape (in other words, it was not Cascade Concrete) at 3:30pm, so I’m recommending you ski today if you can.

Tomorrow also looks excellent, with colder temperatures and another 12-18” of snow between now and tomorrow morning.

Winds will be in the 20-30 range today and tomorrow, with temperatures in the upper twenties to low thirties today and mid to upper twenties tomorrow. Snow will fall all day today and tonight, pausing briefly tomorrow morning until 9am or so, and then snowing again through around midnight tomorrow night.

Saturday looks problematic. Precipitation starts off as snow, but by noon, changes to a torrential downpour up to about 10,000’ feet. No, I didn’t not include an extra zero there. Depending on which model you favor, the Mt. Hood area will see between 2” and 6” of warm rain on Saturday. Models suggest rain on Mt. Hood will taper off on Sunday (but not further north), but if we get unlucky, we’ll see another drenching. Temperatures return to seasonal norms by Tuesday, with a return to snow in the mountains. In addition to the rain, we’ll see wind. The wind starts off light, but as the front approaches midday, winds climb into the 50-60mph range at 5000 feet overnight Saturday into Sunday morning.

If you’re a boater and you like flood waters, get ready, because you’ll have what you want by Sunday morning. The Hood is currently at 4.3 feet, and is forecast to hit 6.8 feet on Sunday. I think that forecast is a bit low, and am sorely wishing I could be at Big Bear Rapid (the one that replaced the Powerdale Dam) taking pictures on Sunday.

Have an awesome day today!

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 button at the bottom of the page. For a suggested donation of $10, I’ll add you to the email version of this list ‘til November 2011, 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.

—

Good morning!

It’s looking like we’re going to sneak by with snow in the mountains for the next few days, and that’s quite a relief to me.

Snow will fall above 4500’ for much of the day today, with 4-6” falling between now and closing time at the ski resorts. After a brief break in snowfall, another system hits in the middle of the night, bringing 10-12” during the day tomorrow and another 6-8” tomorrow night. Snow flurries continue all day Friday, with diminishing intensity towards afternoon, and probably ending by sunset.

Snow levels will fluctuate between 4500’ and 5500’ between now and early Friday morning, when they’ll fall to 3500’ or so. It would not surprise me if we see a few periods of snow mixed with rain at the base of Meadows, and straight-up rain for periods at Skibowl.

Windspeeds will remain high, in the 20-30mph range, until Friday afternoon, with upper lifts closed at T-Line and Meadows.

The weekend is not looking pretty in the mountains, but it is looking great if you like boating very full rivers. If you’re a boater, Sunday and Monday are looking good.

At this point, it’s not clear where the bulk of the storm will make landfall, but by midday Saturday, temperatures will be above freezing at 5000 feet, and by midday Sunday, temperatures will be well into the 40’s at 5000 feet. There’s a lot of moisture headed this way with that system; 2-3” looks possible on Saturday with another 2-3” on Sunday. Fortunately, at this time it looks like the majority of the rain will be north of Mt. Hood, and fortunately, it’s BrewFest at Meadows on Saturday, so you’ll have an alternate activity if you have to be on the hill.

Finally, Wet Planet is having a contest on their Facebook page. Write a comment about the White Salmon (the original posting is from Nov. 29th, so you’ll have to scroll down to see the details) and you could win a free trip and t-shirt. Or… you can just like one of my haikus and I’ll give away the trip to someone on the email list. I get to keep the t-shirt. =)

Have an awesome day today!

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 button at the bottom of the page. For a suggested donation of $10, I’ll add you to the email version of this list ‘til November 2011, putting you in the running for cool prizes donated by the weekly sponsors.