Friday: decision day for the ski resorts…

The best snow forecast for Mt. Hood. The best wind forecast for the Gorge.

Thank you for using this forecast. Like it? Find it useful? Support it (and me!) by sending some cash my way. What’s it cost to support me and get the email version? Not $99 a year. Nope. Not $49. Just $19.99 or more gets you a year. People are added to this list on Thursday and Sunday. My day job is crisis mental health, and I don’t have time on other days. Thanks for your patience! Click below to contribute. Thank you!!

Auto-renewing subscription. Easy. Awesome. Set and forget!

Thank you for contributing and keeping this forecast going! Not ready to subscribe? No problem – please share this forecast with all your friends too! I appreciate your support!

The Forecast

	4a-8a	8a-12p	12p-4p	4p-8p	8p-4a
Mt. Hood Snow Forecast – 5000′
Friday 2000′->4000′
SAturday 4000′->8500′
Sunday 8500′->4000′

Mt. Hood Snow Forecast

Hey everyone! Mother Nature’s teasing us – the resorts have picked up about a foot of snow over the last couple of days. They should get a few more inches today before the sky clears. Timberline and Meadows are both hoping to open this weekend. Stay tuned for announcements. Teacup is hoping to do some snowmobile grooming this afternoon or tonight. Fingers crossed for all this! Generally speaking the weather includes snow today, significant rain starting Saturday afternoon into Sunday, and then dry, sunny weather next week.

Friday kicks off with lingering light snowfall. That tapers off this morning and leaves the mountain sunny this afternoon. High clouds move in tonight ahead of the next system. The snow level will be around 2000′ all day today with the free air freezing level falling to 0′ with 850mb temps at 0C tonight. In other words, temps will be hovering right around the freezing point on the mountain ahead of the next system, which gives us an effective snow level of 4000′ or so. About 0.1 to 0.3” water equivalent (WE) is forecast this morning. That gives us 1-3” additional snow after I get this forecast out. Wind: W 20 this morning, NW 15-25 this afternoon, and S 10-20 after midnight.

Clouds start the day on Saturday. Models suggest light precip arrives mid to late morning. The intensity really ramps up after sunset. With 850mb temps starting near 0C and quickly rising to +2C in the afternoon, the precip won’t stay snow for long. The effective snow level (based on 850mb temps – it might snow to 0′ in the Gorge) will be 4000′ in the morning, 6500′ early evening, and 8500′ overnight. Models suggest about 0.4” WE as snow or mixed precip, for 2-3” of dense snow. After that, 2-3” rain is forecast for the night. Whoa. Wind: S 10-20 early rises to WSW 30-45 in the afternoon and turns to W 45 after midnight. That west wind will really amp up the rain intensity thanks to orographics.

Sunday looks wet, rainy, and windy. What a combo! The snow level will be 7000′ in the morning, 5500′ in the afternoon, and 4000′ after midnight. Unfortunately, the precip will end prior to the snow level dropping. All rain. All the time. Up to 0.9” rain is forecast. It should taper off midday and completely end mid afternoon. Wind: W 40-45 in the morning fades to W 25 in the afternoon and W 20 overnight.

Monday looks sunny with the freezing level at 4000′ all day. That rises to 6500′ overnight. Wind: W 20 in the morning turns light NW in the afternoon. Sunshine sticks around Tuesday. Wednesday or Thursday might bring a little precip, but models are far from all-in on this. The rest of the week looks dry. After that? Ensembles suggest colder weather next weekend with a chance of some snow, but again, they are not all-in on the precipitation. Keep up that dryland training, folks!

Gorge Wind Forecast

Hi friends! It took some time yesterday, but the wind finally showed up late in the afternoon. Hopefully you got some. Saturday’s your best bet for wind (and rain) between now and Monday. Models suggest easterlies will return and stick around for a while starting Tuesday.

For Friday, we start with pressures of 30.27/30.20/30.13 for gradients of 0.07 and 0.07. Despite the sizable gradients, there wasn’t much wind prior to dawn – just 9-13 or so all the way from Stevenson to Threemile. Models hint at morning westerlies at 13-16 east of The Dalles with 11-14 to the west. Afternoon wind falls to 10-13ish all through the Gorge. River flow yesterday was 62-96kcfs, river temp is 48F, and high temp forecast is 45F. Watch for debris in the water. There’s lots right now. Saturday brings easterlies at 20-25 from Iwash (Rooster) to Stevenson to start the day. The wind should pick up to 30ish briefly ahead of an incoming (very wet) weather system. That happens late morning. After that, we’re looking at very wet 20mph east wind for the rest of the day. High temp: 41F. Sunday starts soaking wet with E 15 at Iwash and Stevenson. Iwash turns calm and then switches to W 15-20. Everywhere else, including Stevenson, will be light and variable from daybreak on. High temp: 47F. Sunday and Monday look too light to get on the river. Easterlies pick up to 30mph or so on Wednesday. After that, there’s more range in the models, but the overall pattern is indicative of east wind. Enjoy!

FORECAST SPONSORED BY / AWESOME COMPANIES TO SUPPORT

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

Hood River Weather Forecast

Partly cloudy sky with sprinkles this morning turns dry and then adds more clouds later. Temps start in the low 40’s and rise to the mid 40’s. Light westerlies. 100% chance of rainbows. Rainbow spotted at 7:41am. Saturday starts cloudy then probably adds wet snow late morning followed by definitely pouring rain by afternoon and all through the night. Temps start near 30 and rise to the low 40’s. Easterlies. No rainbows. Sunday starts very rainy and turns showery with possible sunbreaks after sunrise. Temps start in the mid 30’s and rise to the upper 40’s (wait, I kinda doubt that). Light and variable wind. 49% chance of rainbows.

Looking for a complete Columbia Gorge forecast? Looking for more humor in your weather? Obscenities? You’re looking for my TATAS: Temira’s Awesome Travel Advisory Service on Facebook.

Local-ish Events

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

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

Regarding the trails in general: don’t ride in the mud. You’ll damage the trails. Don’t ride trails if it was below freezing the previous night and is above freezing when you want to ride. Ride gravel. Ride your trainer. Build trails. There are trail builders seeking extra hands on seven additional miles of trail on Whoopdee. Contact HRATS for more information. If you’re parking at Post Canyon, you will need a parking pass. Those can be purchased at many local shops or online.