Sometimes people ask me about the ‘water value’ part of the snow forecast. This morning offers a pretty good example. In the last 24 hours, approximately 10” of snow fell at Mt. Hood Meadows. That snow contains approximately 1.45” water value. In other words, if you melted a column of the snow, you’d end up with 1.45” of water. Do the math, and you find out that the snow is 14.5% water content. That’s pretty dense snow – the average for around here is 10% water content (10” of snow for 1” water value), and the snow in colder, drier places is more like 6-8% water content. Sometimes that happens around here – I saw a day several years ago where the snow was just under 6% water content. It was amazing. Anyway… like I said yesterday, the snow falling during the day yesterday was going to be dense. It was, and thankfully, there’s lighter snow atop it. Continued after the chart.
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4a-8a | 8a-12p | 12p-4p | 4p-8p | 8p-4a |
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| Today 1500′ |
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| Tomorrow 500′->1500′ |
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| The next day less than 1000′ |
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Mt. Hood Snow Forecast, continued…
Expect continued snowfall during the day today, with the snow rate backing off tonight. The snow level will be 1500′ for much of the day, dropping to 500′ or less overnight. We’ll see .2-.3” water value (WV) by 4pm, for 2-3” of new snow. We’ll see another .1”-.2” WV tonight, for another inch or two. Wind today will be WNW 15 early, rising to W 20 in the afternoon.
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Tomorrow, Sunday, brings a few flurries in the morning, and a few flurries overnight, with sunshine likely during the day. The snow level will be less than 500′ early and 1500′ in the afternoon. We may see a couple inches of snow tomorrow night, and we may not. Wind will be W 15 for much of the day, turning to NW 15 in the afternoon.
Monday looks partly cloudy and possibly foggy in the morning with sunshine in the afternoon. The snow level will be less than 1000′ in the morning and 1000′ in the afternoon. Wind will be NW 25 early and NNW 15-20 in the afternoon. Next chance for significant snowfall is Wednesday night into Thursday.
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Gorge Wind Forecast
Light west wind this morning picks up to W 13-16 this afternoon. Light west wind on Sunday maxes out at 5-10. Monday looks like W 13-16.
Random Morning Thoughts
A really interesting conversation happened in one of my classes this week regarding circular causality, blame, and taking responsibility for one’s actions. We can look at the world through multiple paradigms: one of them is blame, one of them is the interconnectedness of everything that happens, and there are many others. We can want to change the way things are, but if we’re stuck in a pattern, we need to make sure we’re trying to change things that will have an impact on us, now.
For example. Let’s say I frequent a friend chicken joint. Man do they make good fried chicken! One day I go there, and I get food poisoning. It sucks that the friend chicken joint did this to me, but I really like friend chicken, so I go back. I get sick again. This happens a few times, and so I decide to try a different friend chicken restaurant. Same thing – salmonella. I’m pretty pissed about this, but I really don’t want to stop eating friend chicken. Maybe I’m not actually conscious of the fact that there are other food options. I can only see fried chicken because I’m so attuned to it – it’s what my mom cooked every day, maybe.
I get pretty mad at this point, because I want those restaurants to change what they’re doing. I get mad at the FDA, because they aren’t doing a good enough job about keeping salmonella out of the food chain. I even get mad at chickens – perhaps I kick one to help it get across the road. I get mad at all sorts of aspects about this situation, but I don’t stop going to friend chicken restaurants. I want them to change; I don’t want to change me. I think there’s something wrong with the world, and I should be able to eat fried chicken safely all the time.
In the same way, if we find ourselves in a repeating situation, being angry with the other party, society, etc., isn’t going to change what’s happening. Yes, we can work to change society, and society should change, but that’s going to take a long time (sadly). What we can change is ourselves, our choices, our responses, and even our outlook. If you find yourself eating a lot of friend chicken and getting sick every time, it’s time to look at your world and see why you are only eating fried chicken. There are a lot of other awesome options out there. You just have to learn how to see them and make them your reality. Have an awesome day.
Disclaimer required by my grad school program: I am not your therapist. 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.
Gorge Weather Forecast
Yesterday was an absolutely spectacular day for rainbows, as you may have noticed. A rainbow was visible in Hood River for much of the morning, and for much of that time, it was a double rainbows. Today looks like a similar day. We’ll see relatively heavy rain this morning, followed by showers through sunset. Temps will be in the upper 30’s early and the mid 40’s in the afternoon. The upper valleys, by the way, will likely be seeing snow. Anyway, light west wind. 99.99% chance of rainbows.
Tomorrow will probably have some low clouds for much of the day, maybe becoming partly cloudy in the afternoon. Maybe there will be a few flurries or sprinkles, especially in the evening. Temps will be in the low 30’s early (icy roads likely) and in the low 40’s in the afternoon. Light west wind.
Monday looks mostly cloudy with just a few light sprinkles possible. Temps will be in the low 30’s early (icy roads) and the low 40’s in the afternoon. Light west wind. 23% chance of rainbows. The disaster brewing for the middle of next week has pretty much disappeared from the weather models, although we will likely have icy roads late each night and early each morning.
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
No, please, don’t go mountain biking. It’s very muddy out there, the Syncline doubletrack is likely to be a stream, and you’ll do trail damage if you ride. Speaking of Syncline, please stop riding and hiking off the trail. When you ride/hike off the trail, you do damage to a delicate ecosystem. You make the trails less pretty, and you limit where wildflowers can grow. So please, stay on the trails. If you’d like to go for a bike ride with some other folks, today at 3pm is the weekly Cold Lap cyclocross ride at Dirty Fingers.
Riverside and Cebu Restaurants. Yum.
Riverside is offering again its Winter Special: Buy 1 Pasta, Get 2nd Pasta FREE! Valid Sunday – Thursday, 4 pm – 9 pm with 20 of Chef Mark DeResta’s specialty pasta dishes (gluten-free options too). Available in Riverside and Cebu at the Best Western Plus Hood River Inn. $5 Kids Menu offered in Riverside. (Not valid on Feb. 14, on to go orders, or with other discounts.) 541-386-4410 for reservations www.riversidehoodriver.com
Upcoming Events
Today is Saturday, and you can do the Cold Lap ride at 3pm with the folks from Dirty Fingers. If you happen to be up early, there’s a trail run in Post Canyon at 8am. Coming up tomorrow, there’s community yoga at 9am at Samadhi, community yoga at 4pm at Pure Yoga in The Dalles, and community yoga at 6pm at Pure Yoga in Hood River. There’s ping pong at the Hood River Armory at 5pm, and there’s pickup touch rugby at 3pm at the Mosier School.
Have an awesome day today!
Temira
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