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Random Morning Thoughts
You know it’s a rough morning when neither the coffee nor the Rockstar is working. I think I need a vacation, or at least a day off.
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Mt. Hood Snow Forecast
Today looks like one last sunny day on Mt. Hood. Enjoy it. Clouds will move in mid-afternoon. The free air freezing level (FAF) will be 9000′ with temps in the low 40’s at 5000′. Wind will be NW 10-15mph.
Precip starts around 1am Tuesday. At that point, the snow level will be around 6500′ with temps above freezing in a narrow band between 5000′ and 6500′. This looks like a pretty classic sleet and/or freezing rain setup to me. The FAF and snow level will slowly rise to 8000′ by 4pm. In that period, we’ll see .1-.3” water value (WV) that falls as anything-but-snow. After 4pm, precip increases with the snow level at 8000′ initially, falling to 6500′ by 4am. We’ll see .7-1.0” of rain during that time period. Wind will be S 20 in the morning, SW 25 mid-afternoon and SW 40 overnight.
Wednesday starts off with the snow level around 6500′. We’ll see it drop to 3000′ by 4pm and 1000′ by Thursday morning. During the 4am-4pm time period, we’ll see .5” or so WV which will start as rain and switch to snow, giving us a couple inches of new, maybe – models are disagreeing about when exactly the temp will drop. Wind will be WSW 45 early Wednesday, swinging to WNW 35 mid-morning and holding for the rest of the day.
Thursday looks clear and sunny and cold with 30mph NW wind and the FAF around 1500.
Gorge Weather
There is no weather in the Gorge. There is only the Nothing, sapping the life out of everything it touches. The Nothing stays camped in the Gorge today, setting up an unpleasant round of weather for tomorrow. So. Cloudy sky, temps in the low 30’s.
As warmer, wetter air moves in over the top of the entrenched cold air tonight, early tomorrow, actually, we’ll see some precipitation. It’ll likely start as snow, given how deep the cold layer is, but then it’ll switch to sleet and then freezing rain. The first round of precip, between 1am and 4pm tomorrow, doesn’t look too bad – just a tenth or two of water value.
Tomorrow afternoon and evening are the problem. If the temps don’t climb above freezing – and they are unlikely to, given the massive east gradient and strong east wind – we’ll have .2-.4” moisture to contend with. Odell and Parkdale will take the brunt of this, but Hood River could, depending on timing, get a nice coat of ice too. Or maybe everywhere will warm up above freezing by tomorrow afternoon. We can only hope.
The temp will surely be well above freezing by Wednesday morning. Rain showers continue through early afternoon, tapering off to partly cloudy sky late in the day. Thursday currently looks sunny. Cross your fingers.
Gorge Wind Forecast
Yet again… it’s nuking. 31 at Steven’s Locks. 51 at Rooster. The gradient is E .23. We’ll see this wind hold pretty much all day. Easterlies continue tomorrow at 35-45 in the morning (hence the problematic precipitation forecast) backing off to 24-28 in the afternoon. As the cold front finally swings through late Tuesday night or early Wednesday morning, we’ll see the easterlies switch to westerlies at 23-26, picking up to 26-30 east of The Dalles in the afternoon.
Road and Mountain Biking
Brrrrr.
The Clymb: free membership. Cheap gear. Temira approves. Click to join.
Events – email me if I’ve missed any outdoor-related events
There’s indoor Ultimate tonight at Horizon Christian School at 8pm. And the aPorkalypse is on February 7th. It’s all about bacon, and it benefits a worthy cause., Helping Hands. We need people to cook bacon appetizers, we need people to eat bacon appetizers, and we need people to write bacon poetry. So, mark the date on your calendar, and prepare to eat bacon. Email aporkalypsenow1@yahoo.com for tickets.
Have an awesome day today!
Temira