mt. Hood - The Gorge is my Gym

It’s winter now, and that means it’s time for the snow forecast!

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Random Morning Thoughts

I think I fell asleep in a moving car last night. That never happens. No, I was not driving.

Mt. Hood Snow Forecast – 5000′
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday

Mt. Hood Snow Forecast

It’s not the snow forecast that’s worthy of discussion today. It’s the quality of yesterday’s snow. It was fluffy and fun, and I had a lovely time at work. The corduroy on the hills should be great today. Cold. Dry. Packed powder. Nice. Meadows is opening Mt. Hood Express today.

Expect decreasing snow flurries and increasing sunbreaks today with the freezing level at the surface. T freezing level will be at the surface for the next several days, so let’s just go with that assumption for the whole forecast. The temp will drop into the low teens at 5000′ today. The wind will pick up out of the ENE to 30mph this afternoon.

Tomorrow looks clear and cold with temps in the single digits and ENE wind at 20-30mph.

Thursday sees high clouds move in with afternoon light snow flurries possible. Temps will be in the single digits to low teens with N wind early becoming NW at 10mph. Next chance of snow accumulation is Friday, with a few inches in the forecast. If models for next Sunday/Monday don’t change, things could get wild and crazy on the mountain again.

Plain Old Local Weather

We’re about to slide into an extended period of very cold weather in the Gorge. We’d be below freezing already, but cloud cover protected us last night, like a fuzzy, fluffy blanket. This morning’s 34 degree reading is the warmest we’ll see for the next week or so, so enjoy that “3” in front of the second digit while you can. For the rest of the week, expect temps to be in the 20’s or less, with east wind at 30+ in the western Gorge. Yes, the waterfalls will freeze. Yes, the wind chill will be below zero. There’s a good chance we’ll see some snow flurries or minor accumulation on Friday… kinda far out to be predicting.

And now that I’ve said Friday is a long ways out, let’s talk about Monday and Tuesday, because speculation is fun. Bitter cold continental air remains entrenched in the Gorge through early next week, with high pressure in the desert. Long-range models predict two warm, wet offshore lows swinging inland Monday and Tuesday, packing significant moisture. Models also predict no movement in the cold high pressure east of the Gorge. Low pressure offshore, high pressure in the desert, offshore wind pulling cold air into the Gorge, warm, wet weather coming over the top. This is not good.

If the predictions of the models hold, we here in the Gorge are fucked. Two inches of moisture coming in over the top of sub-freezing air with no hope of pressure gradients reversing is a recipe for a nightmare of an ice storm.

Gorge Wind Forecast

Don’t be silly. The only thing the easterlies will be good for this week is distributing the water from the waterfalls into beautiful ice sculptures.

Road and Mountain Biking

Your bike trainer is calling you, unless your name is Manny, in which case you’re probably out riding already. Just a reminder: They don’t gravel the Petersburg Loop in The Dalles.

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

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

There’s Karma Yoga (free or by donation) at Flow tonight at 4pm, and there’s $12 prime rib at Cebu.

Have an awesome day today!

Temira

It’s winter now, and that means it’s time for the snow forecast!

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

Random Morning Thoughts

I hate it when I forget my computer power cord.

Mt. Hood Snow Forecast – 5000′
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday

Mt. Hood Snow Forecast

A few days ago I thought we’d see 3-4” of rain out of yesterday’s storm, but 9”?!??! Really!?!? 9” of rain in a day? Wow. I wish I’d been up there to witness it, but sadly, I was called off work and spent the day in the valley. The rain finally turned to snow in the wee hours, but most of the precipitation has passed.

We’ll see the snow level fall to 1500′ this morning and fall further to 500′ this afternoon, before dropping to the surface late tonight. During the 4am-4pm period, we’ll see .4-.5” water value (WV) on Mt. Hood, for another 4-6” of new snow. But then again, if the orographics don’t play out right, we won’t see that much snow. It does look like snowfall will increase in the afternoon… Wind will be W 30-40 this morning, going to WNW 30-35 this afternoon and dropping to 20mph this evening, before switching directions overnight.

Tomorrow starts off with the possibility of a few flurries, but dry, cold air will end that pretty quickly. The snow level will be at the surface tomorrow through Friday, at least. We’ll see east wind on Mt. Hood Tuesday. Expect 10mph early, 25 midday and ENE 30 late in the afternoon. High temps on Mt. Hood on Tuesday will be in the teens.

Wednesday/Thursday/Friday/Saturday/Sunday look clear and cold, with temps well below freezing and wind out of the NE/N at varying strength.

Plain Old Local Weather

Yesterday was a record-setting day in the rain department for Hood River. The old record for November 30th was something like 1.06” in a 24 hour period. We were at 1.2-something when I went to bed last night. That’s nothing like the 9” of rain that fell on Mt. Hood, but it was enough to drench me when I went for an afternoon run.

We’ll see scattered sprinkles in the Gorge today, increasing this afternoon, along with moderate west wind that fades in the afternoon. Expect temps to drop from the mid-40’s in the morning to the mid-30’s this afternoon, dropping to freezing in the evening. Be very, very, very careful on the roads in the Gorge tonight, as the wet blacktop will turn into frozen blacktop, with super-sketchy black ice. We may see a few snow flurries tonight too, but no real accumulation.

The weather through Sunday looks mostly clear, dry, and well below freezing, with temps possibly dropping into the single digits on Thursday. Again, I remind you to visit the frozen Gorge waterfalls during this arctic blast.

Gorge Wind Forecast

Expect west wind today at 23-26 early, fading as the day goes on, and switching to east wind overnight. Tomorrow brings east wind at 30-40 at Rooster and Wednesday brings easterlies at 25-35. East winds continue through Sunday at sub-freezing temps with near-zero wind chills.

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