The Gorge is my Gym

It’s looking like fall is here in the Gorge with sprinkles and a chilly, cloudy morning. We have a light west start this morning as the wind machine waits for an approaching front. That front should hit around midday, upping gradients.

Like yesterday’s wind, today’s is going to be gusty and unreliable, but at this time of year, some wind is better than no wind at all. We’ll see 22-26 this afternoon, east of the low clouds with gusty low teens under the clouds.. With showers predicted as far east as The Dalles today, best winds are going to be from Avery out to Arlington.

Tomorrow’s wind looks a little steadier . There are still going to be plenty of clouds in the central Gorge, so steadiest winds tomorrow will be from Doug’s out to Arlington. 24-28 is a pretty reasonable call tomorrow out in the desert.

At this point, it looks like we’ll still have west winds on Thursday, but it’s a little early to make a call on wind strength.

In other news, snow levels tonight are going to be down around 4000 feet tonight and tomorrow, giving the mountains the second shot of snow for the season. That’s going to be low enough for awesome photo ops and snow on the highest mountain bike trails.

Happening today, tomorrow and Thursday is another round of free Crossfit workouts at Children’s park in Hood River For more info, check out crossfithoodriver.com.

Good morning everyone and good yontif to you Yom Kippur observers,

I got up this morning to do the radio report, and my internet service at home was down. Apparently my service provider is observing the High Holiday. “So much for going back to bed after I do this,” I thought, as I rushed to throw on some clothes so I could head to Doppio to poach internet. So right now, I’m sitting in my car downtown, freezing my butt off in a down jacket, while I do the radio and email forecasts.

Anyway, here’s your forecast.

It’s easterlies this morning, but west winds by midday. The back and forth between the east winds and west winds is making me dizzy.

The thermal trough slid east last night, and marine clouds poured into Portland. There’s about zero chance of sun in p-town today, so the desert’s going to give an added thermal push to today’s wind. We’ll see 24-28, maybe a bit better at times, from Hood River out to Arlington later today. I think best winds will be this morning, before an approaching front makes the wind variable and inconsistent.

A stronger front moves inland tomorrow, bringing clouds and rain at least to Hood River. High pressure building offshore behind that front gives a nice bump to the wind in the afternoon. It’s going to be pretty light in the morning, but afternoon winds look like 26-30 out in the desert. If the clouds stay west of The Dalles, best wind will be at Doug’s and Rowena. Otherwise, the steadiest wind will be at Arlington and Roosevelt.

At this point, it’s looking like the North Pacific High will rebuild off the coast on Wednesday, for another round of solid west winds through the Gorge.

That doesn’t mean it will be sunny. If you look at the 7-day forecast, you’ll see that Autumn has arrived, with chilly days and rain in the forecast for much of the week. Bye-bye summer. It was fun having you around for a few months. Come back soon, okay?

In other news, now that the Twin Tunnels have re-opened, the Mountain View alternative ride is back on. Grab your helmet, your bike lights and your dinner money, and leave the spandex and clipless pedals at home. Meet at Mountain View at 6pm for this mellow, cruiser ride out to the Thristy Woman in Mosier.