Tag: Forecast

Good morning!

I held off yesterday morning on saying anything about Jeff. Nothing had been confirmed, but now it has, and you’ve probably heard that Jeff Young didn’t make it back to the beach at Threemile on Monday. It was an insane day on the river… I was on a 3.2 when I first went out, and didn’t think I would be able to make it back downwind to the launch. Victor came in right after me, and he said he’d never been so scared… He guessed it was gusting to 70 or 80 out there. Jeff came in looking a little scared too, but then he started smiling.

He told me he was having a great time out there… he was actually jumping and sailing, while the rest of us (with the exception of Luther the animal) were just trying to get back and forth across the river. Jeff was just going out for a last session when I left, and the wind was still nuclear. Nobody knows what happened to him out there, but it’s worth saying that if you’re overpowered on your smallest sail and want to keep sailing, for safety’s sake, you should be wearing a helmet.

Rest in peace Jeff… I’m glad you went sailing the biggest day ever, rather than some other way, but I wish you’d waited many, many more years to go. My heart goes out to Hannah.

If you’d like to get out on the river and have a session for Jeff today, you’ll get your chance. The morning gradient was at .08, and with low pressure in the desert and high pressure at the coast, winds will pick up with afternoon heating. This morning brings 17-20 from Hood River to Arlington, and this afternoon, we’ll see gusty 16-20 from Stevenson to Hood River and 24-28 this afternoon from Mosier eastward

Tomorrow looks light light west wind, and Friday looks like light east wind, but sunnier, and warmer with highs near 65 degrees.

In biking world, Hospital is sloppy, Post is sloppy, Dog River’s under snow and so is Surveyor’s, but Nestor, should you choose to torture yourself, is rideable. Post and Pint looks unlikely for tomorrow.

If you’re a boater, The Hood’s at 4.5ft, the White Salmon’s at 4.1, and the Little white’s at 776 cfs.

And if you’re looking for something to do tomorrow night, check out Richard Hallman’s slideshow, Kasmir, India, at the Skylight Theatre.

So, whatever you do today, do it for Jeff and his daughter and have an awesome day!

Temira

It is one crazy day up on Mt. Hood this morning. Meadows is closed, which is probably just fine, because it’s stormy as all getup there this morning. Well, actually, it’s employee ski day, and us poor employees will be riding Blue in a blizzard! That blizzard thing… it’s happening at Timberline too. It rained until 4am on Mt. Hood, but it’s snowing and blowing there now: 32 degrees, 1/2 inch of new, and wind gusts to 70.

Those are the kind of wind speeds we like to see on the river, and it’s going to be w-i-n-d-y out there this afternoon. This is frontal wind, so it’ll be gusty, but the upper low crossing southern BC will keep winds going for hours. Head east to Arlington or Threemile for the steadiest, strongest wind in the 35-plus range. In the western Gorge, under the clouds, we’ll have gusty low twenties, maybe a lot more at Doug’s. It’s a day for the windsurfers, not fishing. Be careful out there!

We’ll see high pressure rebuild at the coast tomorrow. That combines with a trough crossing the Northwest for another round of west winds through the Gorge. At this point, low twenties seem reasonable tomorrow.

The mountain biking was all perfect yesterday, but now it’s raining, and it’s time to give the trails a rest. Post is definitely no go after the quarter inch of rain that fell last night.

Boaters, your rivers are about to come up, but for now, the Hood’s at 4ft, the white salmon’s at 3.9 feet, and the little white’s at 672.

Have a great day!

Temira