hood - The Gorge is my Gym

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Come by Riverside Grill, Cebu Lounge and the Best Western Hood River Inn over the holidays. Excellent multi-day Meadows ski packages, or affordable guest rooms (it’s off-season, and prices are totally reasonable) — plus heated outdoor pool, spas, sauna. Great bands at Cebu, plus New Year’s Eve with Lolo Motion. And don’t forget Cebu’s awesome Happy Hours from 4-6 pm, Monday through Friday and $12 prime rib on Tuesday nights (except 12/31) Happy Holidays!

Random Morning Thoughts

Butter is still 2 for $5 at Rosauers. If you live in Washington, you can clarify it and use it to make something that’s illegal in Oregon. Gosh, the world is a funny place, isn’t it? On a totally different topic, if you’re in the Gorge, be very careful on the roads this morning. It’s super slick. Just saw a jack-knifed semi blocking all lanes of 35 at Odell.

Mt. Hood Snow Forecast – 5000′
Saturday
Sunday
Monday

Mt. Hood Snow Forecast

Sorry, but that’d be a negative on incoming snow. It did sprinkle on the mountain for a couple hours last night.

Today looks clear in the morning and cloudy by late afternoon. The free air freezing level (FAF) will be around 5500′ all day. Wind will be NW 30 this morning, becoming NNW 20 midday and holding through the evening. No precipe.

Sunday looks partly cloudy all day. The FAF will be 8000′ early and 9000′ in the afternoon. Wind will be NNW 30 in the morning, becoming NW 25 in the late afternoon.

Monday starts off partly cloudy. Clouds increase in the afternoon as a weak system pushes by to the north. We may see a few sprinkles out of this in the evening , or we may not. The FAF will be 9000′ in the morning, and will drop to 8000′ mid-morning. Wind will be W 10 early, W 20 mid-morning and W 25 in the evening.

Plain Old Local Weather

In a lovely twist, it was clear in the Gorge this morning. I’m so jealous of all of you who’ll be playing in above-freezing temps in the sun. Expect high temps today in the mid-40’s under increasingly cloudy sky as the day goes on. We’ll start Sunday below freezing with partly cloudy sky. Temps will warm into the low 40’s Sunday. Monday, with a little help from west wind, will be above freezing in the morning and in the upper 40’s in the afternoon.

Gorge Wind Forecast

The gradient this morning is W .10, and that’s why we weren’t seeing inverted temps at 5am. We’ll see west wind at 13-15 this morning, fading away to nothing in the afternoon as the gradient disappears. Tomorrow brings east wind at 12-15 at S/R. On Monday, a weak front passing by to the north gives us westerlies at 17-21 in the afternoon.

Road and Mountain Biking

The roads are mighty frosty this morning, despite the above-freezing air temps. Maybe the roads will thaw and make for good road riding. If not, try mountain biking Post or doing Up-Dog.

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Events – email me if I’ve missed any outdoor-related events

This evening is the Dirty Fingers holiday party, starting around 5pm. This should be debaucherous fun. Food, drinks, and costumes in the “week after Christmas at the North Pole”/”Hawaiian” theme.

Have an awesome day today!

Temira

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Your forecaster. Click on her to donate. Thank you!

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Random Morning Thoughts

Butter is 2 for $5 at Rosauers right now. Not as good as $1.99/lb earlier this week, but still good. And there’s no limit. I suggest you get some butter and make these: Irish Car Bomb Cupcakes.

Mt. Hood Snow Forecast – 5000′
Friday
Saturday
Sunday

Mt. Hood Snow Forecast

From NOAA this morning: “MOUNTAINS WILL CONTINUE TO BE SNOW-STARVED WITH CONTINUED DISMAL SNOWPACK CONDITIONS.”

Can’t say I disagree with that. There is no significant moisture predicted for the next week. That doesn’t mean the skiing is bad – I’ve been having a super fun time ripping at Meadows. But it sure would be nice to get more snow, for many reasons.

Today starts with clear sky and sunshine on Mt. Hood. Clouds move in later. We may see a few flurries or sprinkles overnight, but as I feared, the precip has mostly disappeared from the latest model run. The free air freezing level (FAF) will be 12,000′ early, 8000′ midday and 6500′ in the evening. We’ll see the snow level fall to 5000′ overnight, with a few flurries. Wind today will be SW 20 early, WSW 25 midday, and NW 30 in the evening.

Saturday starts clear, becoming cloudy late in the evening. The FAF will be 5000′ early, 3500′ midday and 6500′ in the evening. Wind will be N 10-15 early, becoming NNW 20 midday.

Sunday starts cloudy, and becomes partly cloudy in the afternoon. The FAF will be 8000′ all day. Wind will be NW 30 early and NW 20 in the afternoon.

Plain Old Local Weather

The Nothing cloud has returned this morning, and so have the below-freezing temps. I just walked outside in my PJ’s. Now my feet are cold.

We should see the Nothing break up midday, but it will be replaced by high clouds. Temps today should rise to the low 40’s. Saturday looks like more Nothing, followed by sunshine with light wind and high temps in the mid 40’s. Sunday looks cloudy to start, becoming partly cloudy, with light wind and highs in the upper 40’s.

Gorge Wind Forecast

At 5am, we had an E .09 gradient with 22mph at Rooster and 26mph at Steven’s Locks (thanks, iwindsurf/ikitesurf, for the numbers). We’ll see the easterlies fade quickly today, becoming westerly this afternoon at 13-15, and picking up to 21-24 after dark. Saturday brings light west wind in the morning, becoming just plain light in the afternoon. Sunday looks like a light wind day.

Road and Mountain Biking

I had plans yesterday to ride up Dog River, but took a detour to the north end of Surveyor’s because I was hoping for a warmer, sunnier ride. It was at least 50 degrees up there, and definitely sunny, but the trail was a freeze-thaw mess. So, Surveyor’s is no-go. I got a report that Syncline proper is a freeze-thaw disaster too. Post was apparently good yesterday – frozen solid. Dog River was great – frozen solid, but it was closer to 30 degreess than 50, although it got warmer the higher I climbed.

There were about 8 downed trees below the rocky section. I rode to where the trail splits and ran out of time, but if you’d like a climbing sufferfest and don’t mind a few trees down, I can recommend up-Dog. Bring a large pruning saw, and you’ll be able to clear all but one of those pesky trees. The road riding, assuming the clouds burn off, should be stellar again today, but ride early to avoid the west wind.

The Clymb: free membership. Cheap gear. Temira approves. Click to join.

Events – email me if I’ve missed any outdoor-related events

Coming up on Saturday, it’s the Dirty Fingers holiday party, starting around 5pm. This should be debaucherous fun. Food, drinks, and costumes in the “week after Christmas at the North

Have an awesome day today!

Temira