The Gorge Is My Gym

GORGE WIND FORECAST

today’s gorge wind forecast

Hi friends! Welcome to another summer day in the Gorge. We’ll be right on the edge (again) today for just enough wind to get some of you on the water. Stronger westerlies return Tuesday and Wednesday as the hottest weather in the region shifts east of the Cascade Crest. Westerlies continue into Thursday, Friday’s a question mark, and the Gorge wind forecast beyond that is an even bigger question mark as models struggle for consensus on the overall weather picture.

Looking at Monday, it’s, well, it’s a Monday. Pressures early this morning were 30.01/29.97/29.98 for gradients of 0.04 (PDX-DLS) and E 0.01 (DLS-PSC). That setup says “Corridor or Nothing”, and nothing it is to start the day. The iWind/iKite Viento sensor was reading 13mph early, and everywhere else was at 0-10mph. We’ll see a slow build into the afternoon as we await support from the cross-Cascade thermal gradient. It’ll be strongest after the metro area starts to cool in the evening. So… midday wind rises to 11-14mph from Stevenson to Hood River. Afternoon: 16-19 from Stevenson to Mosier with 12-15 from Lyle to Rowena. If everything plays out just right this evening, we could see 18-21mph from Stevenson to Doug’s. East of Doug’s, the wind will be light all day. River flow over the last 24 hours was 95-175kcfs, river temp is 68.0F, and high temp forecast is 94F 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

tomorrow’s gorge wind forecast

The ridge of high pressure and associated extra-hot temps shifts east of the Cascades on Tuesday. Offshore, a weak system with cooler air approaches the coast. This sets us up for a bangin’ (is that a good use of that word) cross-Cascade thermal gradient (helpful) and instability east of the Cascades (definitely not helpful). It’s also worth noting that marine clouds will be absent, a setup that often leads to the wind at the Hatch falling apart.

So. Dawn Patrol looks like 22-25 from Stevenson to Swell with 19-22 from Hood River to Mosier and 12-15 east of Mosier to Arlington. The wind dips to 19-22 near Swell mid-morning. Afternoon wind is forecast to build, but instability could be a problem, especially east of The Dalles. All that said… we should see 23-26 from Stevenson to Doug’s (exception: Hatch) by early afternoon with 11-14 at Avery. The Hatch, thanks to the heating metro area, is questionable and may be super-gusty and under-performing. From mid-afternoon on, as that thermal gradient really establishes itself, westerlies are forecast to rise to gusty 27-30 from Mosier to Rufus and then to Arlington for the late-day session. With instability present, I’m a bit skeptical of both the strength and wind quality. High temp: 92F for Hood River and 98F at Arlington.

extended Gorge wind forecast

A big marine cloud push is forecast on Wednesday morning. Those clouds keep pushing inland during the day, which makes the eastern Gorge the place to be. As of now (subject to change), Wednesday looks like this: 18-21 from Stevenson to Arlington to start. By late morning: gusty 19-22 (and at least partly cloudy) from Stevenson to Mosier with 25-28 from Lyle to Rufus. Afternoon wind rises to 29-33 from Lyle to Arlington with 23-26 from Threemile to Boardman. Wind west of Lyle really depends on what the clouds do; as of now, the afternoon forecast is for very gusty, very up-and-down, 20-26. Let’s refine this as we get closer. High temp: 79F and partly to mostly cloudy in Hood River with 85F and sunshine out east.

Thursday’s forecast has quite a bit of range in it still. For now, let’s say 21-24 from Stevenson to Doug’s with high temps around 80. Model agreement falls apart on Friday; it will be hotter on Friday, but it’s unclear what the wind will do. Beyond that, uncertainty is quite high, high enough that making a prediction for next weekend remains impossible. Let’s check in about that again tomorrow morning, shall we? Have a great day today. Stay cool whatever you do!

BARE BONES HOOD RIVER WEATHER FORECAST

Sunshine all day Monday. Temps start in the upper 50s (open windows) and rise to the mid 90s (close windows). Light wind early. Moderate later. No rainbows. Tuesday will be sunny. Temps start in the low 60s and rise to the lo w90s. Moderately strong westerlies. No rainbows. Wednesday will be cloudy then partly cloudy. Temps start in the mid 60s and rise to the upper 70s. Moderate westerlies. No rainbows.