Random Morning Thoughts
Pineapple Express. Low-elevation snow. Strong Gorge wind. Arctic blast. All in 24 hours. What more could a weather girl want? I’m in heaven!
Sunday | |||||
Monday | |||||
Tuesday |
Mt. Hood Pineapple Express and Snow and Wind and Frigid Temps. All in 48 hours.
You guys know how much I love interesting weather. Today qualifies. I thought it would rain on Mt. Hood, but not 3/4” per hour. That’s unprecedented. I’ve seen Pineapple Express, and this is the most pineapple of Pineapples. Wow. I’m going to give up on predicting a total rainfall for today, because we’re already at 3” up there. Let’s just talk about the snow forecast, which has improved over the last 12 hours. The snow level will be around 8000′ this morning, dropping to 7000′ around 1pm and 6000′ around 10pm. A LOT of rain will fall in that time period.
The snow level will crash to 3000′ by 1am. In the 10pm-1am period, we’ll see another 1-2” of water value (WV) fall as a mix of rain and snow. Call it 8-16” of snow at 5000′. Not very specific, I know. Big uncertainty = big range. Wind today will be W 60 all day, going to W 50 overnight.
Monday starts with the snow level at 3000′. The snow level will slowly fall to the surface by 10pm. We’ll see another .5” water value between 4am and 4pm Monday, for another 4-7” of new snow. Wind will be W 50-55 early, WNW 45 midday, slowly dropping to NW 25 in the afternoon and swinging around to easterly overnight.
Tuesday looks clear and cold with temps in the teens, at best. Wind will be ENE 30ish on Mt. Hood. Ditto for Wednesday and Thursday.
Plain Old Local Weather
It’s wet. Very wet. It’s going to stay very wet down here in the Gorge today, with temps in the 40’s. Coming up tomorrow, it’ll be chilly in the morning and freezing in the afternoon, with snow flurries. Parkdale will likely see an inch or two. Tuesday-Friday look clear and (insert expletive) cold, with temps getting nowhere near freezing and the waterfalls of the Columbia Gorge turning into ice-climbing playgrounds.
Now, joking aside, I’m going to ask you guys to be very careful out there tomorrow morning if you live above 1000′. It’s going to get icy. And I ask you to be careful tomorrow during the day, as dropping temps will lead to very icy roads all over the Gorge by evening.
Gorge Wind Forecast
If you like wind, you’ll like today. Expect increasing westerlies as the day goes on, picking up to 30-40 east of… The Dalles?… with gusty westerlies in the 20’s in the western Gorge. Tomorrow starts with westerlies at 23-26 east of The Dalles, fading in the afternoon. Tuesday brings east wind at 40-50 at Rooster Rock.
Road and Mountain Biking
Your bike trainer is calling you.
The Clymb: free membership. Cheap gear. Temira approves. Click to join.
Events – email me if I’ve missed any outdoor-related events
Exciting weather. Is that an event?
Have an awesome day today!
Temira