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

Hello there,

I know you’ve all put your windsurfing and kiting gear away for the winter, but you may end up breaking it out again late Friday. After half an inch of rain falls Friday morning, the responsible fronts flies eastward and high pressure builds in behind. This could end up being one of those crazy smoke-on-the-water, super gusty, super crazy wind days. Or it could just fizzle away into nothing. I’d like to see the first, so that’s what I’m forecasting. It’s hard to say exactly where the best wind will be, but I’m thinking Hood River to Maryhill. If the models hold (and they really don’t handle frontal passages all that well), we’ll see upper twenties (maybe stronger) after the front passes, starting around 1:23 pm. I’m really crossing my fingers for this one.

(sorry Dave, but if it happens, your house will have to wait a day)

This is our best chance for wind in the next three days, so it better happen. If you’re at the beach and your hands are cold, find me. I have a selection of DK winter sailing mitts for you to demo.

Now, on to the mountain biking report. On Saturday, there’s a work party at Bottle Prairie with Ranger Jim and free lunch from New York City Sub Shop. If you want to support a food provider who supports your trails, eat there. It’s yummy. To join the work party (and get lunch), meet at Little John sno-park at 9:30am. Bring tools and your bike. The weather should be mostly dry on Saturday, so you have no excuse not to help out.

Here’s the trail report as of 5pm on Thursday: Seven Streams is slick, but rideable. 8-track is good. GP is no-go. Hospital Hill is a little muddy, but good to go. Syncline is great, but it’s hunting season. Please wear blaze orange, leave your dog at home, and do not ride up to the hunters’ camp below the brown house.

Keep in mind that we’re supposed to get .5″ of rain on Friday down here, and 1″ or more at higher elevations. Your short list will be very short for the next couple of days.

If you’re desperate for skiing, Arapahoe Basin and Loveland (in Colorado) are open.

Have a great day today!

Temira

p.s. Don’t forget about Freedom Riders at River City on Saturday!

I was too distracted by the epic mountain biking (oh, and work stuff) to write a forecast yesterday. Hopefully you managed to find something to do anyway. I am sure you did, because you, like all the rest of the people reading this forecast, are addicted to playing outdoors and working out. Don’t try and deny it.

The wind scene looks dismal for Thursday, with light winds through the Gorge under high pressure. Friday, however, could get interesting. A cold front pushes in sometime during the afternoon. If everything works out right, high pressure will push build into western Oregon right behind that front, giving us some strong westerlies. I can’t guarantee anything. These frontal systems are a pain in the butt to predict. However, there’s a chance for strong westerlies late in the afternoon, probably from Stevenson down to Mosier.

Saturday looks light, as far as wind goes.

If you like storm watching, there’s a 15-17 foot @16 second swell hitting the coast the next couple of days. Light south wind will accompany that swell, making for pretty waves.

On the mountain biking front, Ranger Jim reports standing water on the 44 Road trails, so give them a day to dry, if you can. Hospital Hill was PERFECT on Wednesday afternoon. I hear Post is slick, but maybe Thursday afternoon? Same goes for Syncline…

Coming up Thursday evening is Re:Session, a TGR ski flick at Skylight Theatre and Pub, where you can drink beer and watch sick skiing. Speaking of, if you missed the telemark movie, Freeheel Life, at Dog River on Tuesday evening, you missed out. It was an awesome film. Bring on the snow!

On Saturday, there’s a mountain biking flick/documentary at River City (my bad… I thought it was at Double Mountain). Check it out: http://www.freedomridersthemovie.com/

See you all on the trails Thursday afternoon and at Re:Session in the evening!

Temira

p.s. The snow level is going down to 3000 feet next week.