The Gorge is my Gym

Gorge Wind Forecast

Hi friends! Rest day is in effect today, other than the potential for some light easterlies. To start the weekend, there’s a flat water and dock start meetup at Nichols Boat Basin at 5pm today. Westerlies return Saturday afternoon and stick around through Monday or Tuesday. Yup. Models have changed. The windiest day of the bunch now looks to be Monday by a long shot.

For Friday, peak wind will be E 15-20 at Stevenson and Iwash (Rooster) and maybe Viento for a couple hours late morning. Afternoon wind fades to E 10. From Hood River eastward, the wind will be calm-ish all day. River flow yesterday was 123-198kcfs, river temp is 53.96F, and high temp forecast is 86F.

Saturday starts calm. By 2pm, as the heat low shifts towards the desert, the wind will start picking up, perhaps to 10-13 from Stevenson to Mosier. All this shifting and moving isn’t ideal for wind quality. It looks like the Stevenson to Mosier stretch will max at 15-18 while Lyle to Avery reaches 20-23. Late in the evening, Rufus should join the picture with gusty, wrong-direction 20-23. With this particular setup, Stevenson sometimes overperforms. High temp on Saturday: nearly 90 degrees!

Sunday sees the heat low firmly entrenched in the desert while high pressure is locked in off the coast. An approaching shortwave (it’s a weather thing) may impact wind quality, but there will be enough thermal and synoptic-scale gradient to keep things going. The day starts with 17-20 from Viento to Swell with 7-10 at Stevenson and east of Swell to Arlington. Hood River should join quickly. By late morning, we’ll have 21-24 from Stevenson to Doug’s with 14-17 from Avery to Arlington. Afternoon wind keeps building thanks to hot weather in the desert: 23-26 from Stevenson to Rowena with 26-29 from Lyle to Arlington. High temp: 80F, down ten degrees from Saturday.

The current forecast for Monday is 27-31 centered at Swell but also spreading east to Arlington in the afternoon. The direction should be “right” for Rufus. Models are now all over the place for Tuesday. Most of them have a strong ridge of high pressure rebuilding. If that’s correct (20% have other ideas), the wind will be much lighter than on Monday, and the wind will be found only in the Corridor. After that, it’s anyone’s guess. It really depends on whether the ridging scenario plays out. If it does, it’s likely to knock the wind way back while it’s around. So, get that Saturday to Monday stretch!

 

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Mt. Hood Weather Forecast

Spring skiing continues all the way through the weekend and almost certainly next week. By spring skiing, I mean no incoming precipitation and plenty of sun. You’ll want yellow wax on your boards for sure! Friday will be sunny. The freezing level will be 12,000′ all day with temps rising to 60F at 5000′. Wind; SE 10 in the morning turning light and variable in the afternoon and staying that way overnight.

Saturday and Sunday will both be sunny and warm. The freezing level will be 12,000′ through the weekend. On Saturday, the wind starts light out of the west and rises to 15mph. Temps max out near 60. Sunday’s wind starts with W 10 and rises to W 20 in the afternoon. Overnight it turns to NW 20-30. High temps max out near 50 at 5000′. Monday looks sunny and breezy with the freezing level around 10k000′ and max temps in the 40s. Wind: NW 20-30. That’s enough for now. Wear your sunscreen!  

Jones, Sauvie’s, Coast Forecast – On vacation ‘til summer unless otherwise noted

Very basic Hood River weather forecast. Don’t plan your life around this. You really should read Temira’s Awesome Travel Advisory Service on Facebook

Sunshine and only sun for the next three days. Friday: lows in the upper 40s, highs in the mid 80s. Light east wind. No rainbows. Sunday: lows in the mid 50s, high near 90. Calm early. Moderate westerlies later. No rainbows. Sunday: lows in the mid 50s, high near 80. Moderately strong westerlies. No rainbows.  

Local-ish Events

Please let me know of outdoor-related local-ish events. If you don’t tell me, I don’t know!

There’s a work party for the new hike/horse/run trail in Post. Meet 5/25 at 9am at Family Man Staging Area. There’s a weekly social for Wind Johnnies (The Gorge Wind Social) at Ferment Brewing every 3rd Monday this summer. The first is Monday, May 20th at 5:30pm. The Columbia Gorge Junior Kayak Club offers free roll sessions (gear provided) for kids at the Hood River Pool every other Tuesday from 5:30 to 7pm. Visit their website for more deets: https://www.columbiagorgejuniorkayakclub.org/. Amayah’s offers a free meal every First Thursday from 1pm to 4pm. Regular weekly events:. NK Studio’s by-donation Tuesday morning yoga class is back. Ferment’s Tuesday night 4-mile walk/run is at 6pm. There’s meditation with monks at 5:15pm (an hour) and 6:30pm (30 minutes plus a talk) at Yoga Samadhi in White Salmon. The Tri Club is done for the season. At 7:15am on Wednesdays, there’s a run from the White Salmon Bakery. At 7am on Friday morning, there’s a run from Pine Street Bakery. On Fridays at 2:30pm, there’s a free meditation and stretching class at Yoga Samadhi. On Saturday at 9am, there’s a by-donation outdoor group fitness on the 2rd floor deck about Ferment Brewing.  

Cycling

Post, Whoopdee, Hospital Hill, Syncline, and probably Nestor (you check and tell me) are open. Cows are out on Hospital Hill. NO DOGS. That means you, all of you, even your dog that’s [insert adjective]. No dogs. Do not risk access for everyone. No parking at the corral. Whoopdee flowers are in full bloom. Hospital Hill and Syncline have ticks, oaks, and flowers. Columbia Hills is full of flowers and open to your bike. Definitely got a Tack Alert going on out there right now – lots of good dirt. It’s trail-building season. Get on the HRATS mailing list if you’d like to help out. If you’re parking at Post Canyon, you will need a parking pass. Those can be purchased at many local shops or online.  

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Gorge Wind Forecast

Hi friends! A couple of rest days are on tap (except for those of you dock starting and flat water paddling). We should be back to westerlies by Saturday evening. Three to four days of moderately strong west wind are forecast starting Sunday. This is thanks to offshore high pressure and heat in the desert; you can call that “Classic Gorge Setup” if you’d like. It’s a little too far out for precision forecasting, but I’ve broad-brushed the general picture below. In the meantime, enjoy a couple of days off from wind sports. Let your body recover a bit (that is a note to myself!).

Thursday maxes out at E 15-20 at both Iwash (Rooster) Rock and Stevenson for a few hours late morning. The wind drops to 10mph at those spots and picks up to E 5-10 from Hood River eastward mid-afternoon. River flow over the last 24 hours was 129-170kcfs, river temp is 53.42F, and high temp forecast is 81F. Friday sees a few hours of 15-20 at Iwash and 15mph at Stevenson in the morning. The wind drops to less than 10mph in the afternoon. Near Hood River and to the east, the wind should be calm. High temp: 85F. Saturday starts dead calm. As the heat low shifts east in the afternoon, westerlies start to pick up. We’re a little too far out for a precise forecast. As of this morning, it looks like the wind will rise to the upper teens to low 20’s as far east as Rufus late in the day. Let’s refine that as we get closer.

Looking at Sunday through Tuesday or Wednesday (we’ll refine these as we get closer too), we have a pretty good setup for wind. Offshore high pressure lingers. A heat low settles in to the desert. Varying levels of clouds infiltrate the metro area and western half of the Gorge. As of this morning, Sunday looks somewhere in the 20-25 range. Monday and Tuesday look windier, perhaps 25-30. Ensembles have the strongest eastern Gorge day as Tuesday, and they are nearly unanimous about this. Beyond Tuesday, model agreement falls apart.  

 

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Mt. Hood Weather Forecast

Hi skiers and riders. It’s full-on spring up on the slopes, and perhaps it’s even summer. The freezing level remains over 10,000′ through at least Monday. This doesn’t mean the snow won’t snap overnight (clear sky and dry air are conducive to radiational cooling), but it does mean it will soften fast. If you’re going, go early. After next Tuesday, there’s some uncertainty in the models, but there’s no sign of snow.

Thursday will be sunny. The freezing level rises from 10,000′ to 12,000′. Temps max out in the low 50’s at 5000′. Wind: ?E 30 in the morning, E 20 in the afternoon, and SE 15 overnight. Friday will be sunny. The freezing level starts around 11,000′ and rises as high as 13,000′ in the afternoon. Temps max out around 60F. Wind: SE 15 in the morning becoming light and variable in the afternoon. Both weekend days look sunny with the freezing level around 12,000′ and temps rising over 50F both days. Saturday’s wind looks light. Sunday brings NW 20-25. Let’s leave it there for now. Sunscreen and spring skiing!  

Jones, Sauvie’s, Coast Forecast – On vacation ‘til summer unless otherwise noted

Very basic Hood River weather forecast. Don’t plan your life around this. You really should read Temira’s Awesome Travel Advisory Service on Facebook

Clear sky all day Wednesday with a few high clouds late and a shot at a pretty sunset. Temps start all over the place and rise to 70 or so. Moderate westerlies. No rainbows. Thursday will be sunny. Temps start in the mid 40s and rise to 80. Light east wind. No rainbows. Friday: sunny, light easterlies, 85 degrees.  

Local-ish Events

Please let me know of outdoor-related local-ish events. If you don’t tell me, I don’t know!

There’s a monthly social for Wind Johnnies (The Gorge Wind Social) at Ferment Brewing every 3rd Monday this summer. The first is Monday, May 20th at 5:30pm. The Columbia Gorge Junior Kayak Club offers free roll sessions (gear provided) for kids at the Hood River Pool every other Tuesday from 5:30 to 7pm. Visit their website for more deets: https://www.columbiagorgejuniorkayakclub.org/. Amayah’s offers a free meal every First Thursday from 1pm to 4pm. Regular weekly events:. NK Studio’s by-donation Tuesday morning yoga class is back. Ferment’s Tuesday night 4-mile walk/run is at 6pm. There’s meditation with monks at 5:15pm (an hour) and 6:30pm (30 minutes plus a talk) at Yoga Samadhi in White Salmon. The Tri Club is done for the season. At 7:15am on Wednesdays, there’s a run from the White Salmon Bakery. At 7am on Friday morning, there’s a run from Pine Street Bakery. On Fridays at 2:30pm, there’s a free meditation and stretching class at Yoga Samadhi. On Saturday at 9am, there’s a by-donation outdoor group fitness on the 2rd floor deck about Ferment Brewing.  

Cycling

Hood River County is spraying herbicide in Post and at Pinemont this morning, 5/9. These are the trails that will be closed during the operation: A Side, Upper UpTrack, Upper GP, Moto-ghetti, Lower 8-Track, Trail-106, The Boot, Twin Peaks, Upper Trail-180. Many trails will reopen as soon as spraying is done, but these will remain closed for 48 hours: Pinemont, Mobius, Lower 140, and the Blue Car Downhill area.  

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