Saturday: lots of easterlies for the wind Johnnies. Mostly sunny weather on the slopes.

The best snow forecast for Mt. Hood. The best wind forecast for the Gorge.

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The Forecast

	4a-8a	8a-12p	12p-4p	4p-8p	8p-4a
Mt. Hood Snow Forecast – 5000′
Saturday 10,000′
Sunday 10,000′
Monday 10,000′->6500′

Mt. Hood Snow Forecast

Oh the weather outside’s delightful, but the forecast is so frightful. Sigh. At least the ski resorts are doing the best that they can with innovations like Palmer mid-winter and Cascade before Mt. Hood Express. Skibowl, we see you, and we’re sending you snowy vibes. Same with Teacup. Models have been bouncing around quite a bit over the last few days. There’s some home for a bit of snow just before Christmas, but that’s far from certain. Normally I’m ignoring the Canadian model for the sake of brevity, but today we’re all just going to cheer for it and its colder weather. That said, forecast models through the end of December call for total snowfall at the 90th percentile (best possible outcome) of 17-23” of snow for Mt. Hood. Notably, they call for quite a bit more snow in Washington, increasing the farther north you go. That’s the long range. Let’s look at the next few days…

Today will be partially high overcast with plenty of sunshine. The free air freezing level holds at 10,000′. Temps rise to the upper 40’s. To start the day, it was 43F at 5000′; that’s three degrees warmer than in Hood River this morning. Wind today will be W 10-20mph all day turning to SW 5-10 overnight. Sunday starts clear and turns high overcast. The free air freezing level will be 10,000′ or so all day with temps in the upper 40’s in the afternoon. Wind: SW 5-10 to start with 10-20 from the afternoon on through the night. These warm temps beg the question of whether we’ll see corn snow. Given the low sun angle (about 26 degrees), it seems unlikely; I’ve seen packed powder conditions hold for over a week with above-freezing, sunny weather this time of year. But hey, maybe we’ll get lucky with some corn snow!

Monday brings rain. The snow level will be 11,000′ at dawn, 7000′ when the precip arrives, and 6500′ after midnight. Models drag in anywhere from a trace to an inch of rain over the 24 hour period. Most models have 0.25” to 0.5” rain. Wind: S 10-15 early rising to SW 20-30 in the afternoon and SW 30-45 after midnight. Hey, at least it’s not W or NW, which would enhance rainfall! Lingering showers on Tuesday drop a bit of snow above 6000′. Temps at 5000” remain in the mid to upper 30’s (850mb temp at +4C). Wind will fade from SW 30-45 early to SW 10-15 in the afternoon. Clear weather is likely to return on Wednesday afternoon.

Extended: lots of offerings from the GFS, ECMWF, and Canadian. There’s some hope from all three of colder weather and some snow (a few inches, maybe half a foot) starting around 12/23. After that, the GFS and ECMWF look warmer, again. The Canadian is a little more hopeful, but not great. Unless something changes, what I said in paragraph 1 holds: best case scenario is 17-23” new snow by the end of the year. Better than nothing, right, especially given the great job resorts are doing opening terrain with a minimal snowpack. Go get yourself some sunshine on the slopes!

Gorge Wind Forecast

Three days of strong easterlies are followed by a lighter day Tuesday and a return to east wind on Wednesday. Hey, if we can’t have snow for the mountain, we’ll take wind on the river, right? Saturday kicks off with pressures of 30.18/30.30/30.32 for gradients of 0.12 and 0.02. Easterlies this morning will be 40-45 at Iwash, 25ish at Stevenson, and 15ish at Viento. The wind rises to 25-30 midday at Stevenson and holds. Iwash Rock drops to 30-35 this afternoon. River flow yesterday was 103-138kcfs, river temp is stuck at 47F, and high temp forecast is 45F under partially high overcast sky.

Sunday’s going to be a ripper thanks to pressure dropping in the offshore waters. Expect 45-50 at Iwash to start with 30-35 at Stevenson and 20-25 at Viento. The wind builds during the day and finishes with 50+ at Iwash Rock and 35-40 at Stevenson. High temp: low 40’s under clear sky in the morning and high clouds later. Monday will also be super windy, but drizzle enters the picture mid-morning, pauses mid-afternoon (maybe) and returns in the evening. High temp: low 40’s under cloudy sky. Enjoy!

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Hood River Weather Forecast

Nothing sticks around. Temps will be near 40 early and in the mid 40’s later. Easterlies. No rainbows. Sunday will be Nothing with perhaps some filtered sun later under high clouds. Temps start in the upper 30’s and rise to 40ish. Easterlies. No rainbows. Monday will be cloudy then drizzly then dry then rainy overnight. Temps start in the mid 30’s and rise to near 40. Easterlies. No rainbows.

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.

Local-ish Events

Please let me know of outdoor-related local-ish events. If you don’t tell me, I don’t know!

Teacup has an après ski fundraiser at the Ruins on January 27th. $25. Amayah’s Indian Cafe (Biggs) offers a free meal every first Thursday from 1-4pm.

Regular weekly events:. NK Studio’s by-donation Tuesday morning yoga class is back. Ferment’s Tuesday night 4-mile walk/run is at 6pm. There’s meditation with monks at 5:15pm (an hour) and 6:30pm (30 minutes plus a talk) at Yoga Samadhi in White Salmon. The Tri Club is done for the season. At 7:15am on Wednesdays, there’s a run from the White Salmon Bakery. At 7am on Friday morning, there’s a run from Pine Street Bakery. On Fridays at 2:30pm, there’s a free meditation and stretching class at Yoga Samadhi. On Saturday at 9am, there’s a by-donation outdoor group fitness on the 2rd floor deck about Ferment Brewing.

Cycling

Regarding the trails in general: don’t ride in the mud. You’ll damage the trails. Don’t ride trails if it was below freezing the previous night and is above freezing when you want to ride. Ride gravel. Ride your trainer. Build trails. There are trail builders seeking extra hands on seven additional miles of trail on Whoopdee. Contact HRATS for more information. If you’re parking at Post Canyon, you will need a parking pass. Those can be purchased at many local shops or online.