The Gorge is my Gym

The heatwave is finally breaking, with marine clouds beating down the mercury (please personify the clouds and picture them beating down the mercury) from the coast to Stevenson. Dropping westside temps bring climbing gorge winds. Today’s early gradient was .11 with corridor winds in the low twenties at sunrise. Wind models don’t look stellar today, but a 10 degree afternoon temperature differential should keep the wind in the 19-23 range today. There’s a pretty good chance we’ll see a pretty substantial midday lull, so be prepared to run … um, I mean sail or kite … for shore.

Tomorrow starts off with light westerlies cooling down your overheated houses, tents and RVs. A little less marine influence keeps morning winds in the teens, but we’ll see some afternoon thermals in the 18-22 range.

The slow cooling trend continues Sunday with winds in the 17-21 range for much of the day.

Weekend events include free yoga at Luhr Jensen Beach at noon on Saturday. That’s brought to you by Annahata yoga. Bring your yoga mat. Also on Saturday is the movie King Kong on the big screen at Jackson Park in Hood River. Sunday brings the CGWA swap meet at the Expo Center parking lot. Everyone’s welcome to come sell their outdoor gear… it’s not just about windsurfing and kiting. Also on Sunday is the final race in the Big Winds’ standup paddle race series.

And finally, If the heat’s killing you, head to the Kayak Shed’s rental center between the Event Site and the 76 Station. Locals (HR, WS, TL, TD, Odell, Parkdale, etc… sorry Portland/Seattle/Bend/Vancouver crew) get 50 percent off flatwater boat rentals through August! They’re going to have standup boards down there too, eventually. If nobody’s down there to help you out, they might be on lunch. Just give the Kayak Shed a call, and they’ll send someone down to get you out on the water.

Whatever you do today, have an awesome day!

The heat low shifts eastward this afternoon, keeping Portland just below 100 degrees and driving Hood River and The Dalles back into the 105 range.

Light east winds this morning fade later, becoming light westerlies towards sunset as marine clouds filter in from the coast. Your best bet for wind today is at Jones Beach, where cooler air at the coast combined with scorching heat in Portland will drive 20-25 in the very scary shipping corridor at the kinda scary sandy beach. .

Don’t expect spectacular wind tomorrow, but expect better than stifling nothingness. Portland gets low 90s and the Dalles nears 100, giving us a 10 degree thermal gradient. Tomorrow starts off with 12-15 mile per hour west winds or so, holding in the 17-20 range or so for a good part of the day. Best winds will be from Stevenson out to Mosier.

West flow continues this weekend, but I’m not really sure about wind strength yet. There’s a possibility of some thunderstorms over the weekend, which could throw a bit of a wrench into the forecast.

Other than that, today bring two events for you crazy people. The miserably hot and dusty (their words, not mine) Post and Pint is on for 5:30. Meet at Dirty Fingers. The Hood River weekly Triathlon is on for 5:45. meet at the event site. Sane people can enter the Big Winds standup paddle races at the event site this evening.

Stay cool, and wahtever you do today, have an awesome day!