The Gorge Is My Gym

Thank you for using this forecast. Writing it takes 60-120 minutes a day; I can only keep it going with your generous financial support. Make a contribution or subscribe and get it in your inbox with bonus material. What’s that cost? Not $99 a year. Nope. Not $49. Contribute $19.99 or more, and you’re on the list for a year. People are added to this list on Thursday and Sunday. Thanks for your patience! Click below to contribute and keep the forecast going for everyone, nearly every day.

Click here to use your PayPal
Venmo: @theGorgeismyGym
Snail Mail: Temira Lital, PO Box 841, Hood River, Oregon 97031
(note: I am not a non-profit entity. The only way to accept credit cards with a user-defined amount is to use the ‘donate’ button. Thanks for understanding!)

Gorge Wind Forecast

Moderate westerlies on Saturday turn into strong westerlies by Sunday afternoon. Very strong wind sticks around Monday and Tuesday before high pressure builds inland again and (likely) shuts the wind down.

Looking at Saturday, the day starts with gradients of .09 (half between Portland and Hood River, and half between Hood River and The Dalles!). Another 0.02 is east of The Dalles. This sets us up for a western Gorge day. Expect 14-17 for your dawn patrol between Viento and Swell with Mosier likely part of this too. It’s possible, given the gradients, that you’ll find 14-17 near Rowena. Probably best not to jump on that. The gradient coalesces around the Corridor this morning leaving us with 20-23 from Stevenson to Mosier. Hold out until the evening, and you’ll see the wind fill in east of Mosier to the Dalles at 18-22. River flow is 143kcfs, river temp is 71F, and high temp forecast is 95F. Smoke will stick around all day – AQI is near 100 this morning.

Sunday sees the smoke slowly start to dissipate as flow turns more westerly. Early wind will be 15-18 between Viento and Mosier with 10-13 to Rowena and 5-10 at Stevenson and Arlington. By mid-morning, westerlies build to 21-24 from Stevenson to Hood River as the ridge shifts east and allows for more onshore flow. From then on, it’s a slow and steady build to 24-27 (mid-afternoon) between Stevenson and Mosier. That’s not all – late afternoon and evening westerlies hold at 26-30 from Hood River to Arlington. High temp: 94 Hood River, 98 for Biggs.

A weak front/trough combo will bring cooler weather on Monday; high temps drop about 12F across the Gorge. Dawn Patrol wind will be 24-27 from Viento to Mosier with 18-22 to the east. Midday: gusty 26-30 from Viento to Rufus with 20-26 at Stevenson. Afternoon: 28-32 from Viento to Threemile. Tuesday’s looking like 27-31 or more. Heat and high pressure rebuild midweek and shut down the wind.  

Coast, Jones, Coast

Coast (north/central/south, waves. Wind direction north unless otherwise noted. Swell forecast from NWS.) Saturday: LTW/LTNW/NNW10-15, W swell 4′ at 11 seconds. Sunday: LTSW/LTW/N15-25, W 4′ @ 11. Monday: LTV/LTNW/N25-30, NW 4′ @ 9. Jones Saturday: 18-22. Sunday: 18-22. Monday: 8-11. Sauvie’s Saturday: 8-11. Sunday: 12-15. Monday: 8-11.  

Mt. Hood Weather forecast

On vacation unless some wintry weather happens.  

Hood River Weather Forecast

Smoky weather sticks around on Saturday. Temps will be in the mid 70’s early (record high low?) and mid 90’s later. Muggy in the morning. Less muggy later. Moderate westerlies. No rainbows. Sunday sees the smoke clear out, mostly. Temps will be in the upper 60’s early and mid 90’s in the afternoon. Moderate westerlies early. Strong westerlies later. No rainbows. Monday will be sunny. Temps will be in the mid 60’s early and low 80’s in the afternoon. Strong to very strong westerlies. No rainbows. Ditto for Tuesday.

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.  

Cycling

SDS (Whoopdee, Underwood), BLC, HFM, DGS, and Kreps Land (Hospital Hill) are now closed until the end of fire season. It is also vital that people respect this closure to maintain positive relationships between the landowners and trail users. DNR land in Eastern Washington (Buck Creek / Nestor Peak) is all closed to recreation due to fire danger.

Open trails: Post, Falls Creek, Lewis River, Sandy Ridge, Columbia Hills, Gorge 400, Plains of Abraham / Ape Canyon. 44 Road: Eightmile, Fifteenmile, Bottle Prairie, Dog River, Superconnector, Cedar, Knebal, Cooks Meadows, 450 to the top, Gunsight, Underhill. Siouxon has reopened. Huffman: not sure.

Maple Road in Post Canyon is closed. DO NOT drive past the closed signs. If you do so, you will jeopardize TRAIL access for the entire summer. This is the road that runs to the west, just north of the Binns/Riorden intersection. Also, the trail from the bottom of Post Canyon to Seven Streams Staging Area is now closed. It’s on private land. Respect the closure.  

Local Events

This weekend is the SIC paddle challenge at the Hood River Waterfront Park.

IFPL 3 restrictions west of Highway 35 went into effect on 7/16. No more motorized use in Post Canyon trails. Mountain View Cycles women’s ride is every Thursday, bottom of Post at 5:30pm. They have an all-genders ride at 6pm on Wednesday, end of the pavement on Post Canyon Road. Their shop road ride leaves at 9am on Saturday for a 2 hour ride. Dirty Fingers has the Post n’ Pint on Thursday evenings at 5:30pm from the shop. They also have the women’s Post n’ Pinot Wednesday evening at 5:30pm from the shop. Oregon E-Bikes has ladies’ rides at 7:30am Sunday and Monday. The Small Boat Group does paddles every Thursday evening at 6pm at the Hatchery.

Other weekly events. Normally on Tuesday night there’s meditation with the Pacific Hermitage Monks at 5:15 (1 hour) and 6:30 (30 minutes followed by a talk) at Yoga Samadhi in White Salmon. In-person meditation is on “pause” due to the recent Covid surge. It will happen on the Pacific Hermitage YouTube page at 6:30. Triathlon practice with the Tri Club is Tuesday at 6pm at West Mayer State Park. Sailboat races happen Wednesday night from the Hood River Marina. There are also lesser races on Friday nights. Cheno’s workout is every Saturday at 10am at the Ferment Lawn in Hood River ($10). Families in the Park starts August 5th at Jackson Park and runs for several weeks on Thursday evening.  

Sprinter Van of the Week!

  Click here for the Sprinter Van map of the world!!!   Have an awesome day!