The Gorge Is My Gym

GORGE WIND FORECAST

today’s gorge wind forecast

Hi friends! It’s a sunny, light wind start to the day here in the Gorge, and the wind will pick up just enough this afternoon to get many of you on the water. Same thing tomorrow. As a heat low shifts inland on Tuesday, we’ll see stronger wind that persists into Wednesday. From Thursday on, uncertainty is surprisingly high, with some ensemble members calling for very little wind, and some calling for lots. There’s no way to give you an accurate Gorge wind forecast beyond Wednesday, so I won’t mess with your head by trying!

Sunday started with pressures of 30.19/30.12/30.11 for gradients of 0.07 (PDX-DLS) and 0.01 (DLS-PSC). Metro area sky was clear as can be; the heating race is on between the desert and the west side. We won’t have much thermal help today – just a few degrees of difference are forecast. That will take the wind speeds down from what we’ve seen recently. The day started with 17-20mph at Viento and less than 10mph everywhere else. We’ll see a slow build to 16-19mph between Stevenson and Hood River by early afternoon with 13-16mph at Mosier and less than 10mph to the east. The wind holds until the Executive Session (after 5pm), when it rises to 17-20mph between Stevenson and Mosier with 11-14 between Lyle and Doug’s. River flow over the last 24 hours was 95-142kcfs, river temp is 66.9F, and high temp forecast is 88F for Hood River.

RIVER FLOW FOR SITES BETWEEN AVERY (EAST OF THE DALLES) AND RUFUS: CLICK HERE FOR JOHN DAY DAM FLOW.

RIVER FLOW FOR SITES BETWEEN STEVENSON AND DOUG’S BEACH (WEST OF THE DALLES): CLICK HERE FOR THE DALLES DAM FLOW

tomorrow’s gorge wind forecast

Our next mini heat wave really digs in on Monday; we’ll be relying on afternoon thermal gradients to get things going. Expect very little wind to start, perhaps 10-13mph between Stevenson and Swell. East of there: calm. We’ll see a slow build to 15-18mph from Stevenson to Mosier by early afternoon. The wind fills in between Stevenson and Doug’s at 17-20mph late in the afternoon, holding into the evening. High temp: 94F and sunny.

extended Gorge wind forecast

Heat sticks around Tuesday, but the associated heat low pressure is expected to shift east of the Cascades in the afternoon with strong wind resulting. Early wind should be 21-24mph from Stevenson to Mosier with 12-15mph east to Arlington. By late morning, we’ll have 24-27mph from Stevenson to Mosier with 20-23mph form Lyle to Doug’s and 11-14mph at Avery. Afternoon wind, thanks to lack of marine cloud support in the west, drops to gusty, up-and-down 18-23mph at Swell and rises to 25-28mph between Mosier and Rufus. There’s some possibility of 28-32mph in the evening, but it’s far from guaranteed. Let’s keep watching to see how this plays out, shall we? High temp: 92F for Hood River.

Marine clouds surge into the west side early Wednesday and may actually keep pushing inland during the morning. If this plays out, you’ll be driving east of those clouds for best results. Desert wind should rise to 30mph in the afternoon. I’m going to hold off on making a prediction for the Corridor and Near East (Swell through Doug’s) until we have a better sense of what those clouds will do. Either way, it’s going to be a windy day; it’s just a matter of where! Uncertainty increases on Thursday and lingers into the long-range forecast. At this point, it’s not possible for me to give you a forecast for Thursday and beyond – the range of possibilities is just too big. So, let’s leave it there for now. Have a great day on the water!

BARE BONES HOOD RIVER WEATHER FORECAST

Clear sky all day. Temps start in the low 60s and rise to the upper 80s. Light westerlies early. Moderate later. No rainbows. Monday will be sunny. Temps start near 60 and rise to the mid 90s. Light westerlies early. Moderate later. No rainbows. Tuesday will be sunny. Temps start in the low 60s and rise to the low 90s. Moderately strong westerlies. No rainbows.