GORGE WIND FORECAST

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SHORT-TERM gorge wind forecast

Hi friends! Westerlies persist in the forecast for at least the next several days. Starting Thursday, uncertainty explodes in the Gorge wind forecast – more on that in a bit. Today’s day one of the Gorge Downwind Champs. If you’re in the river between Stevenson and Hood River, keep an eye upwind and yield to folks with paddles (or nothing) in their hands. They do have the right of way over folks with wind power, and plus, you don’t want to get into a collision with a paddle craft!

Monday kicked off with clear sky, light westerlies, and pressures of 30.10/30.04/30.01 for gradients of 0.06 and 0.03. Viento was the peak performer early with 15-18mph, and the Rufus area was reading 13-16mph. Despite this, we’re expecting the wind to focus west of Avery today. By mid-morning,we’ll have 14-17mph from Stevenson to the Hatch, and by early afternoon, that wind will fill in to to Mosier. Late afternoon sees westerlies climb to 16-19mph from Stevenson to Avery. Executive session: 17-20mph from Stevenson to Avery with 13-16mph at Rufus. Farther east: nothing. River flow over the last 24 hours was 104-171kcfs, river temps is 67.6F, and high temp forecast is 89F for Hood River.

RIVER FLOW FOR SITES BETWEEN AVERY (EAST OF THE DALLES) AND RUFUS: CLICK HERE FOR JOHN DAY DAM FLOW.

RIVER FLOW FOR SITES BETWEEN STEVENSON AND DOUG’S BEACH (WEST OF THE DALLES): CLICK HERE FOR THE DALLES DAM FLOW

LONGER-TERM gorge wind forecast

Tuesday sees a surge of assistance in the afternoon from building offshore high pressure and desert heat. Early wind will be 20-23mph from Viento to the Hatch with 18-21mph from Hood River to Mosier and 7-10mph east to Rufus. Stevenson is always tricky to pin down early, but let’s say 12-15mph. After that dawn patrol surge, the wind dips to 17-20mph and fills in from Stevenson to Mosier with 13-16mph near Rowena. Afternoon: thanks to that surging high offshore, westerlies build to 22-25mph from Stevenson to Doug’s with 13-16mph at Avery. East: not much at all. High temp: 92F in Hood River and 97F in The Dalles.

Atmospheric instability throws a monkey wrench into the wind quality on Wednesday, but it’ll still be windy. And hot. Dawn Patrol dishes up 19-22mph from Viento to Mosier with 13-16mph at Stevenson and 11-14mph near Rowena. Westerlies peak at 21-24mph from Stevenson to Doug’s late morning or early afternoon before dipping later in the afternoon. After 2pm: 15-18mph from Viento to Hood River, 19-22mph from Stevenson to Avery, and 13-16mph at Rufus.

Models get VERY interesting on Thursday, when the GFS deterministic calls for NOTHING and 80-85% of the Euro ensembles call for a nuking day. I’m leaning towards wind for Thursday, but we also have a potentially complicating upper level low. Uncertainty continues into the end of the week and the weekend – models mostly agree on a warm-up, but they don’t agree on wind. The GFS deterministic has it nuking day after day, and the Euro ensembles call for much lighter wind. In other words, don’t put your plans in permanent ink yet. Stay tuned for updates. See you on the Nch’i Wana soon!

BARE BONES HOOD RIVER WEATHER FORECAST

Clear sky this morning. A few mid and high clouds later. Temps start in the low 50s and rise to the upper 80s. Moderate westerlies. No rainbows. Tuesday will be partly cloudy then clear. Temps start in the upper 50s and rise to the low 90s. Moderate to moderately strong westerlies. No rainbows. Wednesday will be clear then partly high cloudy. Temps start in the low 60s and rise to 90. Moderate to moderately strong westerlies. No rainbows.