Monday. 12/16. Sun, sprinkles, snow, freezing rain, wind and some really stellar road biking weather.

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Random Morning Thoughts

It took two happy lights, ¼ can of Rockstar Zero and French press coffee to get the snow report done this morning. I must be tired.

Mt. Hood Snow Forecast – 5000′
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday

Mt. Hood Snow Forecast

It’s going to be another sunny day on Mt. Hood today. Or maybe a few high clouds will drift in. The free air freezing level will be 9000′ early, rising to 10,000′ in the afternoon. Temps will be in the upper 40’s at 5000′. Wind will increase to NW 25 by midday and stay there all day.

Tuesday starts clear, and stays that way while the sun is up. The free air freezing level will be 12,000′, dropping to 8000′ around 10pm, and the temp at 5000′ will peak early in the morning at 50 degrees, and then drop to 45 degrees in the afternoon. Clouds move in overnight, bringing sprinkles to the tune of .1” water value. Wind on Tuesday will be SW 30 in the morning, swinging to W 30-40 midday.

Wednesday starts with sprinkles that quickly switch to snow flurries, switching to orographic flurries and sunbreaks midday and becoming sunny in the afternoon. The snow level will be 6000′ at 4am, crashing to 500′ by 10am, and falling to the surface by 10pm. Total precip will be .1”-.2”, for 1-2” of new snow, at best. I suspect models are underestimating the wind, but I’ll share what they’re saying: W 30 early, WNW 30-40 by 10am, NW 25-35 at 4pm, and N 20 overnight.

Thursday looks dry, but precip starts up again Friday morning, and it’s not looking like friendly precip. It’s looking rather warm to be white. In addition, it’s looking very, very windy on Friday.

Plain Old Local Weather

Hopefully you like both warm and cold weather. =) Looks like the temp will rise to the upper 40’s today and near 50 degrees tomorrow. Wednesday starts relatively warm, but temps drop through the day, getting below freezing Wednesday night. Although NOAA is calling for 40’s on Thursday/Friday, I think we’ll see temps stay right around freezing.

Now, let’s talk about the incoming precip this week: we’ll see some light sprinkles Tuesday night into Wednesday, with light flurries possible Wednesday morning. Friday could get interesting, depending on the timing of the next system. Warm, wet air swings over the top of an entrenched cold air mass. If the timing is right/wrong, we’ll see freezing rain.

Gorge Wind Forecast

We have a bit of a west gradient to start the day today, but models say we’re going to see a switch to east wind at 10-15 this afternoon. Tuesday starts with east wind at 21-24 and switches to west at 22-25 midday. Wednesday starts with westerlies at 10-15, picking up to gusty 23-26+ through the whole Giorge in the afternoon as a dramatic cold front swings through.

Road and Mountain Biking

So excited for 50 degree weather. Hello road bike. I got a report on Syncline yesterday that said it was as bad as it’s ever been from the freeze-thaw. Deep mud everywhere. So please, give it a couple of days to dry out. Whoopdee is closed for the season by order of the landowners, because too many people were riding when it was in fragile shape. Stay tuned for reopening information. I have no information on Post or Gorge 400, but I suspect everything is thawing out and in a fragile state at this point. Your road bike would be a better choice.

The Clymb: free membership. Cheap gear. Temira approves. Click to join.

Events – email me if I’ve missed any outdoor-related events

There’s indoor Ultimate tonight at Horizon Christian School. There’s $12 Prime Rib at Cebu tomorrow night, and there’s pickup rugby at Waterfront Park tomorrow night. Coming up Wednesday at Columbia Center for the Arts, Peter Marbach gives a talk titled “Himalayan Dreams”. Proceeds for this event will benefit the Sukman Memorial Polyclinic in Kumari, Nepal.

Have an awesome day today!

Temira