Good morning!
Anyone tired of the inversion in the Gorge yet? I am! Judging by the forecast discussion from Portland, we’re doing better than they are today. Talk of dense fog in the Willamette Valley sounds even worse than an inversion cloud over Hood River.
Up on the mountain right now, it’s sunny. Well, it’s not actually sunny yet, because it’s too early, but it will be sunny for much of the day. Pre-frontal clouds will likely move in by noon, and snowfall should start between noon and three. I think we’ll see 6-8 inches between today and tomorrow, along with another couple of inches tomorrow, at least.
In the semi-extended picture, Thursday is looking worrisome, with marginal snow levels and a serious amount of sub-tropical moisture headed our way. If the snow levels can stay low enough, we’ll get a couple feet of heavy, base-building snow at Meadows on Thursday into Friday. If not, we’ll see rain. Tough call at this point, but I’m leaning towards snow, not rain. Snow levels drop a bit on Friday for another 6+ inches.
As you might have noticed, it’s below freezing today in the Gorge, and we still have a .12 east gradient. That doesn’t bode well for driving around this afternoon. I think we’ll see a good 3”+ of snow down here tonight. That’s just enough for sledding on 7th street…
In other rec news, I’ve heard talk of crazy people windsurfing the last few days in the nuclear zone down at Rooster and Stevenson. I, fortunately, was spared from that by having to work on the mountain for four days straight. Whew!
Have a great day today!
Temira