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Forecast

8/1 Forecast

It’s another west wind day on the river today! The early gradient was holding at .09 and winds were in the ‘tweens from the Hatchery down to Dougs and Rowena. Westerlies hold in the 18-22 range this morning. Midday heat will beat down the wind, but we’ll see a bit of a ressurgance this afternoon into the 21-24 range (I’m being a bit optimistic here, but given that NOAA just threw that shortwave talk into the mix at 2:34am last night… well… ) as a shortwave approaches the Gorge, assuming thunderstorms don’t kick up.

The cooling breeze holds all night tonight, keeping your house from resembling an oven. Sunday’s wind starts out in the 17-20 range, picking up towards evening, maybe picking up a lot, as an upper low sends marine clouds up the coastal gaps.

That low pressure system crawls toward the coastline tomorrow night, sending marine clouds towards Portland and increasing Monday’s thermal gradient potential. Overnight winds rock the Gorge Sunday night, likely keeping you awake, but more importantly, cooling down your house.

Dawn patrol looks like Monday, with mid-twenties the early call.

On the non-windsport front today, there’s free yoga at Luhr Jensen beach at noon today. Bring your yoga mat. After that, there’s a big party at Double Mountain Brewery from noon til 10 tonight, and the movie King Kong plays at Jackson Park at sunset.

Tomorrow is a CGWA swap meet at the Expo center, and after you’re done with that, say, around 10am, you can head to the Event Site for the final standup paddle race of the year.

Whatever you do today, have an awesome day!

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Forecast

7/31 forecast (I want pie, and that has nothing to do with the forecast)

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!