Saturday: moderate westerlies and increasing muggies!

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The Forecast

Your favorite beach	Dawn Patrol	9am- 11:30a	11:30a- 3pm	3pm- dusk
Today’s Gorge Wind – these are ranges for the average speed, not a predicted wind range. =)
Rooster Rock	beach	closed	buns	clothed
Steven’s Locks	5-10	10-13	15-18	15-18
Swell-Hood River	12-15	12-15	15-18	15-18
Doug’s, Lyle, Rowena	12-15	12-15	15-18	15-18
Rufus, etc.	12-15	12-15	7-10	7-10
Roosevelt & Arlington	12-15	12-15	7-10	7-10

Gorge Wind Forecast

Oregon and Washington are encouraging people to not travel to access recreation, and all land managers and law enforcement are carefully watching to see if people maintain social distancing. If crowding happens, water access will be revoked. If you are local and lucky enough to have water access in your community, please do this: rig, play, leave. Recreate and go home. That’ll help limit the spread of Novel Coronavirus. If you live in a place that’s still under a stay at home order, stay home – follow the guidance of where you live, not where you want to go.

Offshore high pressure has migrated just far enough away that offshore low pressure also has hands on the wheel this weekend. Westerlies drop out of the “strong” range and into the “moderate” range for the next few days. Fro Saturday, morning gradients of .06 and .04 indicate we’ll have at least a bit of wind. The river agrees – whitecaps are out there! Morning westerlies will be 13-16 most locations with 5-10 in cloudy Stevenson. Afternoon wind picks up just a bit, to 16-19 from Stevenson to The Dalles. River flow is 3334kcfs and temp is 53 degrees.

Sunday starts out with light west wind. By noon, a few whitecaps appear as the wind climbs to 12-15 from Stevenson to Mosier. Another little bump comes late: westerlies rise to 15-18 from Stevenson to The Dalles mid to late afternoon.

Whatever the wind does on Monday, you’ll want to be prepared to jump in a cool body of water. Humidity is going to climb to tropical levels. Wind will be 10-13 everywhere in the morning. Afternoon wind fades in the desert and climb to 18-22 from Stevenson to Avery. Looking longer range, moderate westerlies continue for another day or two, and then models diverge on the forecast.

Jones, Sauvie’s, Coast: this portion is waiting for those counties to be ready for visitors. Coast hotels reopen on 5/26, so perhaps that’s when. However, non-essential travel is still restricted.

Open/Closed Launch Site List -All restrooms are closed!

Washington:
Skamania County – Phase two, recreate with 5 or less people outside household
Stevenson East Point, Bob’s Beach, Boat ramp: all open
Home Valley: Closed
Swell City: closed
Spring Creek Hatchery: Closed
Klickitat County – Stay at home order in place. Only recreate with household members
Wunderbar: high water
Bingen Point: Open
Lyle: you have to cross private property to access
Doug’s Beach: Closed
Avery: Open
Maryhill: Park closed. Boat ramp open.
The Wall: Closed
Roosevelt: Open

Oregon: Phase one for Hood River, Wasco, Sherman, Gilliam counties – recreate with 10 or fewer friends from the county
Rooster Rock: Closed
Viento: Closed
The Hook: open
Waterfront Park: Closed
Event Site: Closed
The Spit: Open
The Marina: Open
Boat ramp: open
Mosier: Only open for residents of 97040
Rowena: Closed
Celilo: Closed. Boat ramp open
Rufus: Closed
Arlington: Open
Threemile: Open

Mt. Hood Weather Forecast

Timberline is open with exemplary guidelines for protecting guests and staff from the transmission of novel coronavirus. Please read their guidelines and rules here. Well done, T-Line! The Mt. Hood weather forecast will be on vacation unless something interesting happens in the weather up there. Some of you will be tempted to go out backcountry skiing. Please don’t – accidents do happen, and you may put others at risk. Timberline is allowing uphill access outside the permit area on the climbers’ trail ONLY. No uphill traffic is allowed at Meadows.

Hood River Weather Forecast

Mostly clear sky this morning might add some high clouds later. Temps will be in the low 50’s early and upper 60’s in the afternoon. Moderate westerlies. No rainbows. Sunday looks high overcast with periods of sun possible in the afternoon. Temps will be in the upper 40’s early and mid 70’s later. Muggy. Moderate westerlies. No rainbows. Monday looks high overcast. Temps will be in the mid 50’s early and mid 70’s later. Really muggy. Moderate westerlies. 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.

Cycling

Trail update: Post open to residents of HR County. No parking in HRC forests (staging areas, or anywhere). Syncline/Coyote Wall: CLOSED (it’s in the scenic area, and all those trails are closed – you risk a parking ticket or more if you’re there). Mt. Hood National Forest: trailheads and developed areas CLOSED. Trails: open if you can park somewhere that’s not a trailhead. Surveyor’s, Dog River, and Oak Ridge open according to Strava. Kreps/SDS: open. Sandy Ridge: Open. Nestor Peak: open. Columbia Hills State Park: CLOSED. Skamania County trails outside the scenic area: open. Ape Canyon: Closed. Falls Creek: too snowy to ride as of five days ago per an email I received.

Current lawful social distancing requirements: only people from your household in Klickitat County. Only household members if you’re from Multnomah, Clark, or other ‘stay at home’ counties. Up to 5 friends in Skamania County. Up to 10 in Hood River County.