Mt. Hood snow and Gorge wind forecast | The Gorge is my Gym

Good morning!

I just received some information at 9:40am that The Dalles wastewater plant is exceeding E. Coli levels in their discharge and will be posting “Do not enter the water” signs downstream of The Dalles. So, I suggest staying out of the water at Doug’s, Rowena, Lyle and Mosier for now… Yuck… Update @8:30pm: it is recommended that you stay out of the Columbia between Dallesport and Lyle, so Rowena and Doug’s are off-limits this weekend.

The ski report this morning has more snow for Timberline, where it’s 23 degrees with 2” of new overnight. Meadows reopens tomorrow, and they’ve had 12” or so this week, so the skiing should be quite good.

If you’re a kiter or windsurfer, you’re stoked today. Westerlies continue, and with less clouds blanketing the Great Columbia Ditch this morning, and gradients at .13 and .10 the strongest, steadiest wind will be from Hood River to Maryhill, likely best at Doug’s, maybe the Hatchery. Expect 24-27 by mid morning, holding til evening, at the Hatchery, Mosier and Doug’s, with a little less at the Sandbar and Lyle, and gusty teens under the clouds at Stevenson.

If you’re heading to the Hatchery, there’s one lane open on 14, so you won’t need to do the White Salmon detour dance.

Westerlies continue tomorrow, but a passing warm front will make it gusty. 10-15 in the morning builds to gusty 22-25 in the afternoon, from Hood River out to Arlington, with a chance of rain. Expect steadier westerlies, in the Corridor, on Sunday.

If you’re a mountain biker, I have great news: The trail that shall not be named or described is open, and I’d like to say thanks to Marc, Steve, Wayne, and all the others who put in the hard labor to get that trail up and running again. I’d also like to say thanks to SDS for working with CAMBA to let us rebuild this trail on their land. I’m so excited that all I can say is… Whoopee!!! Dog River is also open, but there’s race practice today and the Fluidride Enduro all weekend, so wait ‘til Monday for that trail.

Boaters, the Hood’s at 4.2 feet, the White Salmon’s at 4.1 feet, and the Little White’s at 727 cfs.

Have an awesome day today!

4/29 forecast

Good morning Gorge sports fanatics!

If you like powder, head to Timberline today. It’s 20 degrees and They have 10” of new snow with moderate to strong wind. Meadows is set to reopen on Saturday and Sunday.

If you’re a mountain biker, here’s a quick headsup; There are coyotes living at the bottom of Spaghetti Factory. They’re protecting their dens and pups from intruders, so if you’d like to ride that section of trail, please do not bring your dog along, for both the safety of your dog and the mental health of the coyotes. Also, it’s really muddy in Post Canyon, so for the health of the trail, stay out for a couple of days.

If you promise to stay out of Post, I have a special secret for you. It was announced at the Race Across the Sky movie showing last night that the Whoopdee trail is open again. Thank you a thousand times over to the hard-working bikers who did the labor to reopen that trail. It’s one of the few that’s rideable year-round, so ride it, but be nice to it.

Also, as of yesterday, Dog River was snow free (the snow level was very low last night, so it’s a little questionable today) and the bottom 2/3 of Surveyor’s was clear of downed trees and snow. I tried to go up and check it out yesterday, but got distracted by the morels in Parkdale and then got further distracted by a fledgling great horned owl hanging out with me in the woods.

If you’d like to ride Dog River, ride it today. Tomorrow and Sunday is the Fluidride Enduro, taking place on the Dog River trail.

If you’d like to make a difference in the mountain bike community, tonight is CAMBA’s seasonal meeting at Dog River at 7pm. Also tonight, The Post and Pint ride is called off due to muddy conditions, but social hour at Dirty Fingers is still on.

And you thought there was no wind forecast today… there shouldn’t be after I screwed yesterday’s up so badly, but this one’s an easy one. It’s going to be way windy today. If I were a windsurfer, I’d probably go to The Wall today. If I were a kiter, I think I’d go to Roosevelt.

The morning gradients are at .11, .14 and .37, meaning we’re looking at another big day on the water. Clouds pushed pretty far east last night, out past Hood River somewhere (hey, it’s DARK out – I can’t tell where the cloud line is!), so for the morning, the strongest wind will be at Maryhill and Arlington. We’ll see 28-33 in the desert today, with a chance of winds filling back to Doug’s this afternoon. In the corridor, we’ll have gusty 15-19. Tomorrow brings Corridor westerlies in the 19-23 range.

Geez that’s a long forecast. I’ll probably see you at the CAMBA meeting tonight if I make it back from Portland in time.

Have a great day!
Temira