The Gorge Is My Gym

GORGE WIND FORECAST

If you’re still seeing yesterday’s and it’s after 9am, try opening this in an incognito window AND/OR FLUSHING YOUR CACHE or do a do a hard refresh (Ctrl+Shift+R / Cmd+Shift+R)

Keep in mind that this forecast attempts to predict what the iKite/iWind sensors will read. Think like a local! All sensors are not equal. Swell reads low. Viento/Arlington/The Wall read high compared to Swell. 30mph at Rufus (The Wall sensor) is about 23-24mph at Swell. 30mph at Swell is about 35-37mph at Rufus/Viento/Arlington. Hope that helps!

SHORT-TERM gorge wind forecast

Hi friends! It’s Saturday, and a windy day is on tap, especially out in the desert. Low clouds pushed so far inland overnight that they squashed the Hatch dawn patrol. But don’t you worry – there’s dawn patrol at 25mph+ everywhere between Mosier and Arlington, and the wind is ramping up! It’s going to be a windy day! Sunday also looks like a solid west wind day. High pressure builds inland on Monday and pretty much shuts the wind off. That same high pressure might drive just-enough east wind for a few of you on Tuesday. As we move into Wednesday, uncertainty rises, but models are optimistic about solid westerlies returning Thursday and continuing after that. Fingers crossed! Remember that Doug’s is closed through August 5^th due to railroad stuff. On to today’s forecast….

Sunday started out cloudy past Hood River (hence the lack of Hatch dawn patrol) with sunshine out east. Early pressures were 30.16/30.05/29.95 for gradients of 0.11 and 0.10, a great sign for widespread wind! We are expecting a cold front to swing through mid-morning. This may turn the wind gusty and up/down for a couple hours while it moves through. After it passes, high pressure will build offshore and a low will hang off the coast of Vancouver Island. All that’s to say that it’s going to be quite windy everywhere east of the low clouds. Given those clouds and the prediction for them to persist, areas west of Mosier will be up-and-down in the 20-23mph range into the afternoon (under 15mph in the evening) with the exception of Viento, which is likely to hover in the mid to potentially upper 20s.

East of The Dalles, westerlies quickly build to 30-33mph between Avery and Threemile and hold until 5pm or so. Periods of 33-36mph are possible, but not promised, between noon and 5pm. Boardman joins the fun at 30-33mph between 2pm and 5pm. After 5pm, the wind drops to 22-25mph from Philippi Canyon to Boardman and 17-20mph or less between Avery and Rufus. Conditions are a little trickier to predict between Mosier and Doug’s (closed), due to uncertainty about the extent of the clouds. Early wind will be 24-27mph near Rowena. It’s likely to fall mid-morning, return early afternoon, and fall late afternoon as clouds move inland. Most reliable conditions today will be east of the low clouds, probably east of The Dalles. River flow over the last 24 hours was 101-172kcfs, river temp is 71.2F, and high temp forecast is 74F (and mostly cloudy) in Hood River and 85-90 (and sunny) east of The Dalles.

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

LONGER-TERM gorge wind forecast

Sunday starts off cloudy to the west and sunny to the east with a trough moving inland and strong high pressure offshore. This is a setup where reality beats the GFS nearly every time. Early wind may be somewhat suppressed by cold temps. Let’s call it 15-18mph from Viento to Mosier. As the desert heats, westerlies build to 22-25mph from Stevenson to Doug’s. It’s possible, given lingering clouds on the west side, that Rufus could join, but it’s far from guaranteed. High temp: 74F in Hood River and 80F in the desert.

High pressure takes over on Monday and pretty much shuts things down. The wind will be calm to start, east 10-15mph for a few hours midday near Stevenson, and light easterly or calm to finish. High temp: 83F in Hood River and sunny. East flow continues on Tuesday as high temps jump 5 degrees. Easterlies peak at 20mph or so in the morning hours before fading in the afternoon.

As we move into Wednesday, uncertainty increases. The Euro ensemble hints at westerlies returning, but it’s unclear if that will actually happen. Models suggest the heat low will move inland on Thursday which would bring the westerlies back. Models do agree that offshore high pressure will linger – once the westerlies return, they should be relatively strong and steady thanks to the offshore high My fingers are crossed, especially since I’ll be on retreat for a week starting the 9^th (not ideal, but it’s part of an 18-month program I’m in) and missing forecasting for you and playing in the Nch’i Wana. See you out there soon!

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BARE BONES HOOD RIVER WEATHER FORECAST

Mostly cloudy today (yay!). Temps start in the mid 60s and rise to the mid 70s. Moderately strong westerlies. No rainbows. Sunday will be partly cloudy then sunny. Temps start in the low 50s and rise to the mid 70s. Moderately strong westerlies. No rainbows. Monday will be partly cloudy then clear. Temps start in the low 50s and rise to the low 80s. Calm wind or light easterlies. No rainbows.