The Gorge Is My Gym

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The Forecast

Mt. Hood Snow Forecast – 5000′
	4a-8a	8a-12p	12p-4p	4p-8p	8p-4a
Friday 9000′->2500′
Saturday 2500′->1500′
Sunday 1500′->3000′->1500′

Mt. Hood Snow Forecast

Mt. Hood jumped on the fall rollercoaster this morning – it’s been raining over 0.3”/hr for hours, and the mountain has already picked up 2.2” rain in the last 24 hours. The wind is nuking. Meadows has their pineapple icon up on the website, and that seems apt for today. Overnight tonight, the snow level crashes, but much of the moisture will be finished. Don’t despair – up to 2.5 feet of snow is forecast to fall at 5000′ by Monday morning.

Snow is not in the forecast for Friday! Instead, we have an incredible atmospheric river with intense rain and powerful wind. Top of Mt. Hood Express was reading 33-70 when I last looked, which would be a total shutdown if the resorts were open. The snow level will be around 9000′ today, 5500′ around midnight, and 2500′ in the wee hours of Saturday. About 2.2”+ rain is forecast between 8am and 5pm followed by 3.0” rain between 5pm and 2am when the snow level starts to drop. It would not be surprising, given the orographic effects today, if there was actually more rain than that! An inch or three of snow falls between 2am and 5am. Wind today will be WNW 60 in the morning, W 70 in the afternoon, WNW 45-55 tonight, and NW 40-50 after midnight. Orographic (terrain-enhancing) effects rip all the moisture possible out of the air on Saturday. The snow level will be 2500′ early, 1500-2000′ midday, 1500′ around midnight, and 3000′ after midnight. About 0.5” water equivalent (WE) is forecast during the day. Add in orographic effects for 5-7” powder. Another 0.2” WE is forecast overnight for 2-3” additional powder snow. Wind: NW 40-50 in the morning, W 35 in the afternoon, W 45 in the evening, and SW 30-45 overnight.

Sunday looks rather snowy, especially for a short and intense period in the morning as a system lines up right over Mt. Hood.. The snow level will be 3000′ most of the day and will fall, as the sky starts to clear, to 1500′ by Monday morning. About 1.1” WE is forecast during the day for 9-13” new snow. Another 0.2” WE is forecast overnight for a couple inches more. Wind: WSW 30-45 early fading to SW 5-10 in the afternoon and building to SW 10-120 after midnight. Light snowfall and light wind are forecast on Monday. The rest of the week brings intermittent flurries and cold temps. Looking long-range, temps remain relatively cool, but there’s not all that much moisture in the forecast for the next couple of weeks. Enjoy the wild weather today!  

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Gorge Wind Forecast

We have reached a day of very interesting weather, and also a day of an interesting wind pattern. As you may know, we’re usually looking at cross-Cascade and synoptic-scale pressure gradients as well as temperature differences to sort out our wind speed. That’s not what we’re relying on today. Instead, we’re looking for upper-level wind to drop to the surface, and we’re also looking at downslope wind off the Cascades. To some extent, your guess is probably as good as mine, and we’re going to lean on NWS today. Models for eastern Gorge wind speeds are all over the map, but the farther east you go, the more consensus there is for a very windy day. Indeed, NWS has issued a High Wind Warning for the Pendleton area – that’s only maybe the second time I’ve seen that!

So, we start the day with gradients of 29.94/29.89/29.83 and light and variable wind through the Gorge, except west of Hood River where we have gusty 15-25. Westerlies west of Swell (in the downpour) should pick up to gusty 25-35 by midday. East of The Dalles, you’ll find very gusty 25-40 with bigger gusts. Light rain will probably start falling east of The Dalles by 2pm. The wind is forecast to really increase mid-afternoon onward. If you go for it, I wish you luck! River flow readings are 138-142kcfs (it looks like they may be releasing a bunch of water to prepare for this weather system), river temp is 57F, and high temp forecast is 58F.

Saturday looks like a rather more “normal” setup. That said, there’s going to be a lot of debris in the water from Friday’s rain event. Westerlies kick off at gusty 13-16 in the western Gorge with gusty 24-28 from Lyle to Rufus and 20-23 at Arlington. The wind quickly fills in at 24-28 from The Dalles to Arlington, adds Threemile at some point, and holds through 5pm or so. High temp: 48F. Sunday looks light and variable. Colder weather and easterlies are forecast for much of next week.  

Jones, Sauvie’s, Coast – Done for the Season

Hood River Weather Forecast

Drizzle this morning gives way to heavy rain this afternoon and extreme rain tonight. Temps will be near 50 in the morning and pushing 60 in the afternoon. Light* westerlies (see wind forecast). 1% chance of rainbows. Saturday will be intermittently drizzly in the morning and much wetter in the afternoon. Temps will be in the low 40’s early and upper 40’s later. Moderate westerlies. 98% chance of rainbows. Sunday will have heavy rain early and lighter rain later. Temps will be in the upper 30’s early and mid 40’s in the afternoon. Light and variable wind. 5% 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!
The Gorge Gear Swap is Saturday 8 (early bird) or 9-2 at the Alliance Church in Hood River. There’s a Nordic ski swap at Working Hands Brewery on Sunday. Regular weekly events: Ferment’s Tuesday night 4-mile walk/run is at 6pm. 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. There’s a free Zumba class at 6pm in the parking lot of One Community Health in The Dalles on Wednesday. Providence is sponsoring a walking program called Healthy Strides. Meets Weds at May Street 5:30pm, through Nov 16. All ages welcome, and there’s swag!  

Cycling

Too much rain. Too wet to ride. This will be followed by freeze-thaw conditions. Best riding will be on gravel roads or on pavement. Please don’t ride muddy trails – you’ll damage them, and someone will have to come after you and fix them. The Family Man closure kicked off on November 1st – the area around Family Man and Riordan Hill Road will be closed into December. Upper elevation trails, above 4000′, are likely to have some snow coverage. Rifle deer season is open in both Oregon and Washington, so consider wearing safety colors while you’re riding. If you’re riding Post Canyon, you will need a parking pass. Those can be purchased at many local shops or online.  

Sprinter Van of the Week!

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Have an awesome day!