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

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!

Mt. Hood Snow Forecast – 5000′
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

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

Gratitude Month, day 30: Today I am grateful that there was a point in my life when I had the humility to ask for help. I am grateful that the universe connected me with an angel of a therapist, by luck, rather than by my choice. I’ll spare her the spotlight, but if you find yourself in the same position of wanting to talk to someone, I will share her name with you. Thank you, lovely lady, for all your help. =)

Mt. Hood Snow Forecast – 5000′
Saturday
Sunday
Monday

Mt. Hood Snow Interesting Weather Forecast

Today is the day to ride Hood this weekend. We’ll have partly cloudy sky with occasional sprinkles later in the day. The snow level will be at 7500′ early, fluctuating a bit during the day, and ending up around 6500′ tonight. Wind will be light in the morning, increasing to NW 20.

Tomorrow looks a hell of a lot more interesting. The snow level starts around 9000′, rising to 10000′ midday, and not going anywhere until 10pm, when it falls to 8000′. We probably won’t see any snow out of this until 1am, when the snow level finally drops to 5000′.

This incoming system taps into subtropical moisture for 1” of rain between 4am and 10am, maybe a little break mid-morning, and then another 1.5” of rain through 10pm. After that, things get a bit tricky, due to the timing of the incoming cold air. Models show 2” more water value (WV) between 1am and 7am Monday. I think most of that will fall as rain at 5000′, giving us 4-6” of snow down low with 9-13” at 6500′. Skiing in the rain would be fine, but the real problem Sunday is the wind: W 50 at 4am, W 60 at 7am, W 70 at 10am and through the rest of the day.

Monday morning sees new snow on the ground, with some terrain-enhanced snowfall during the day. The snow level will be 2000′ at 4am, dropping to the surface in the afternoon. We’ll see .3-.4” WV on the mountain, for 3-4” of new snow between 4am and 4pm, after which we’ll see flurries. Wind Monday starts at W 50, droping to WNW 35-40 mid-morning and drops further to WNW 20 late in the day. Tuesday looks cold and clear, with high temps in the upper teens on Mt. Hood with E wind at 15 early, rising to 30+ mid-morning.

Plain Old Local Weather

Hey, at least the inversion is broken. Which means the weather is not-broken. 42 degrees down in the valley and 31 at the top of Cascade this morning. That’s the way the world should work. Actually, speaking of inversions, I had an interesting experience yesterday. It was cold and freezing and smoggy and not-windy at my house in town. Up at Familly Man, it was 10 degrees warmer with a nice west breeze and clean air. Cool.

Today will be partly cloudy with temps nearing 50. Tomorrow will be rainy with temps near 50. Monday morning starts off rainy, with temps in the 30’s early, dropping below freezing in the afternoon. If you live above 1000′, be prepared for very icy conditions Monday morning. By Tuesday, high temps will be below freezing, and by Wednesday, they’ll struggle to get out of the teens.

Is it going to snow? I don’t see a lot of snow in the Gorge forecast, but flurries overnight Monday into Tuesday seem reasonable.

Gorge Wind Forecast

We’ll see gusty westerlies today, picking up to 17-20 east of The Dalles in the afternoon. Tomorrow brings west wind at 30-40+ east of The Dalles with very gusty 22-25 elsewhere along with lots of rain. Monday starts with leftover west wind at 21-24, becoming light in the afternoon. Starting Tuesday, we’ll be in an east wind pattern.

Road and Mountain Biking

If you want to ride your road bike without gravel on the road, I suggest you do it today. You could do it tomorrow, but you’ll get quite wet. Out in the woods, it’s a mess, with mudbogs from the melt-freeze.

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

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

Tony Smiley is playing tonight at Cebu at 9:30pm. Meadows is now open daily 9am-4pm.

Have an awesome day today!

Temira