Gorge Wind Forecast
Happy Monday morning, everyone! We’re starting out the day with more wind than we’ve seen in a while and, happily, cooler temperatures. Looking at the satellite, today also started off with some marine clouds in Portland. Not the thick, deep, everlasting marine clouds we’d like to curse the City with, but enough to combine with a desert heat low for big gradients. One thing to keep in mind today is a trough of low pressure moving about in the region. This has increased instability, and will contribute to inconsistent wind today. That said, you can expect strong westerlies – whether they’ll live up to the potential indicated in the GFS and in the gradients is still to be seen. For example, the PDX-DLS gradient at 6am was .16, and the wind was in the 21-15 range.
Technical discussion aside, you can expect 23-27 from Viento to Rufus by 10am or so. I think it’s perfectly reasonable to expect some periods of 27-31+? from Viento to Mosier today with periods of 29-34 from Rowena to Rufus. Arlington is going to lag behind today, with 27-31+ possible this afternoon (a real wind speed, not sensor speed which tends to read high). It’s probably worth mentioning that models indicate the highest chance of thunderhead development will be east of Mosier today, all the way through dusk, meaning that the eastern Gorge has the highest chance of major disruption to the wind field.
(continued after the chart)
| Your favorite beach | Dawn Patrol |
9am- 11:30a |
11:30a- 3pm |
3pm- dusk |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rooster Rock | bare | buns | funs | funs! | |
| Steven’s Locks | 10-13 | 13-16 | 16-19 | 20-23 | |
| Hatchery/White Salmon Sandbar (minus a few for Hood River) | 23-27 | 27-31 | 27-31 | 20-24 | |
| Doug’s, Lyle, Rowena | 13-16 | 17-23 | 27-31 | 27-31 | |
| Rufus, etc. | 13-16 | 17-23 | 27-31 | 27-31 | |
| Roosevelt, etc. | 13-16 | 16-21 | 21-27 | 27-31 | |
Gorge Wind Forecast, continued.
I almost forgot: the reading at The Dalles Dam this morning was a very reasonable 261kcfs, and the river temp was 62 degrees.
Enough about Monday. A stronger marine push and more stable atmosphere on Tuesday leads to a more predictable setup for wind. Models only indicate afternoon wind speeds in the 23-26 range, but that seems low to me. If you’d like to believe the models, go with 23-26 or so all day. I’m going to go out on a limb and do a bit of up-scaling. I think we’ll see 24-27 to start the day from Mosier east to Rufus, perhaps at Arlington as well. Don’t drive too far, because the wind east of Rufus will die off by late morning. In the corridor, I think the wind will beat the models, hitting the 25-29 range by late morning. Of course, I could be totally wrong on that, but you’ll be on the water whether the models or Risky Temira gets the forecast right.
Another deep marine push impacts Portland (sorry, City) on Wednesday morning. Models indicate Dawn Patrol at 22-25 from Viento to Hood River and 27-31 in the afternoon from Hood River to Rufus. Thursday currently looks like 12-15, but we’ll see if that forecast doesn’t get upgraded as we get closer!
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Jones, Sauvie’s, Coast Beta Test Forecast
Jones Monday: 15-18. Tuesday: 15-18. Wednesday: yuup, 15-18. Sauvie’s Monday: 9-12. Tuesday: 11-14. Wednesday: 11-14. Coast (north/central/south). Monday: no/no/no, NW 5′ @ 7. Tuesday: 5-10/10-15/30-35, W 5′ @ 9. Wednesday: 50\-10/15-20/35+, W 4′ @ 5.
Mt. Hood Snow Forecast
Nothing to see here.
Random Morning Thoughts
I think you’re all more interested in a wind forecast today, after me taking all weekend off, that my reflections. Have an awesome day today!
Disclaimer required by my grad school program: I am not your therapist (but I could be 27 graduate school credits from now). I am your weather forecaster. Take everything I say with a grain of salt, and consult with your actual therapist about your mental health issues. One other thing: I plan to keep doing this forecast indefinitely, even when I am a therapist.
Gorge Weather Forecast
There are some high clouds scattered out and about this morning, and those will probably come and go as the day goes on. Expect temps in the upper 60’s this morning and low 80’s (yay!) this afternoon. Strong west wind. 1% chance of rainbow (if one of those unlikely thunderstorms crops up). Tuesday looks sunny with a chance of a few marine clouds in Hood River. Temps will be in the upper 50’s early and the upper 70’s in the afternoon. Strong west wind. No rainbows. Wednesday looks exactly like Tuesday.
For weather specifically directed at travel through the Gorge, please visit Temira’s Awesome Travel Advisory Service on Facebook.
White Sprinter Van of the Day
Road and Mountain Biking
Good news: Fifteenmile and Falls Creek are confirmed open. There are a few trees and small patches of snow on Falls Creek, and there are two trees down on Fifteenmile, one on a downhill with very little notice. There’s fresh chipseal on Marsh Cutoff. McKenzie Pass is open to cars but is still very much awesome. Given the amount of snow we found at 4500′ there, I suspect Gunsight Ridge and Boulder Lakes still have some melting-out to do. I did see a report on Strava that the 88 Road above Trout Lake is impassable – I will contact the individual for more details. At this point, it sounds like the Forest Loop is not rideable due to massive road damage.
Upcoming Events
Today’s free community events kick off with meditation at Trinity Natural Medicine at 12 and $5 Tai Chi at the Hood River Valley adult Center at 2:30. There’s pickup kickball at Daubenspeck Park in Bingen at 6, and three free yoga classses: 6pm at Samadhi in White Salmon, 6:30 at the Mt. Hood Town Hall, and 6:45 YogaFaith (Christian yoga) at Pure Yoga in The Dalles.
Coming up this weekend, it’s the biggest holiday weekend of the summer, with both the 4th of July crowds and the Canada Day crowds. The Fort Dalles Fourth Celebration starts of the holiday, happening on Saturday the 1st. If you’re loooking for a race to run in, remember that the Kollas Kranmer race form Odell to Hood River is on the 4th. There’s surprisingly little happening this weekend; so far I’ve just found the Gorge Cup windsurfing races at the Event Site and the WIND Youth Regatta in Cascade Locks. And a swap meet on Saturday at Windance.
Have an awesome day today!
Temira
