The Gorge is my Gym

I know that you Hood River residents are holding your gas tax ballot in your hands. I encourage you to vote for the tax. If you do not, you will be subjected to less snowplowing (a lot less), less road repair, and less road sweeping (of that pesky gravel that makes you crash your expensive road bike and cracks your windshield) for the NEXT FOUR YEARS. I’m sorry. Did I say that in caps? Hopefully I got my point across. Vote yes for the tax (c’mon, it’s only $30/year if you buy 20 gallons of gas a week), and tell your friends to vote yes.

Now, on to the forecast. No… wait… did anyone leave an XS Gath helmet (you know Gath helmets are the best, right?) at Cheap? If so, I have it.

It’s another day of west wind in the Gorge today as morning clouds in Portland combine with sunshine in the desert to give us afternoon thermals. Although gradients and windspeeds were pretty light at dawn, they’ll pick up a bit as the day goes on. By midday, we’ll see 15-18 in the corridor, and by afternoon, winds pick up to 17-21 or so from Stevenson down to Rowena.

A strong upper low sets up off the Oregon coast tonight, sending marine clouds into Portland tomorrow morning. That’ll give us a thermal gradient in the afternoon, but low pressure off the coast will limit the overall gradient. Southerly upper flow tomorrow will make things gusty, and probably limit sunshine, but I still think we’ll see 17-21, maybe a little better, from Hood River out to Arlington tomorrow afternoon.

The weather picture gets complicated on Wednesday, but it’s looking like winds will be pretty light in the Gorge.

In other news, there are a couple of group bike rides tonight. The first is a high-speed ride out of Mountain View Cycles at 5pm. The alternative ride, the no-spandex, no clipless pedals, front light recommend, helmet and rear light required, cruiser ride meets in front of Mountain View at 6:15.

Also tonight is free chi gong and tai chi at Wilson Park in Hood River. Since there’s so much going on, you have no excuse to be on the couch in front of the TV this evening.

Whatever you do today, have an awesome day.

All right, I am going to come right out and say it. I wrote this forecast Saturday evening. Why? Because I’ve done the forecast in the morning for so many days on end that I can’t take it any more. I need to catch up on sleep. So, this is my best guess for what’s going to happen today. If it’s wrong, I apologize, but the need to sleep in and wake up without the alarm clock is greater than my desire for accuracy at this point (and you guys know I am obsessed with the quality of this forecast). So, I’m crossing my fingers that it’s correct, and if not, I apologize profusely. So…

Yesterday’s cool, gusty winds give way to warmer weather today as an upper ridge builds over the Norhtwest. Morning clouds in Portland were enough to give us light gradients to start the morning, and they’ll be just enough to give the desert a jump on the heating today. Steadiest winds today will be in the corridor, starting in the low teens and building into the 17-20 range later on. With a little luck, we’ll see 20-23 mid-afternoon, but the most likely scenario gives us upper teens to low twenties most of the day today.

High pressure holds off the coast tomorrow and low pressure holds in the desert, keeping west winds blowing through the Gorge. It’s not going to be spectacular wind to start the week, but it’s going to be enough to get you on the water. I think we’ll see 18-22 tomorrow, pretty much all day long.

Tuesday looks like a carbon copy of Monday, with whitecaps on the river for much of the day.

In the extended forecast, it’s looking like stronger winds return later in the week as the high pressure system breaks down.

In other news, there’s not much going on for group activites today… But if you wait until tomorrow, there’s free chi Gong and tai chi in Wilson park in hood River, and there are a couple of bike rides out of mountain view cycles in Hood River. Other than that… for more event information, check the event calendar at https://thegorgeismygym.com!

Whatever you do today, have an awesome day!