snow forecast - The Gorge is my Gym

Good morning!

The sponsor of the report for the next few days is Hood River artist Mark Nilsson. Mark’s having a studio sale on Saturday at 7 Hazel Street, starting at 10am. You can see his work in Doppio (an amazing world map), on 6th street in Hood River (an incredible tile mural), and all over town on people’s walls. This coming Saturday, you have a chance to meet Mark, wish him a happy birthday, and pick up an original Mark Nilsson painting. Your purchase of Mark’s beautiful artwork will help send him to Paris (assuming the French still aren’t on strike) to celebrate his (big) birthday. To see some of the paintings, visit Mark’s Facebook page. And, one lucky person on the email list will win a mini Mark Nilsson painting.

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It’s a beautiful, sunny morning in the Gorge, and that means it’s time for you to get outside and do something fun. Why? Because the rain is coming, and along with the rain is coming cold, mud, and less daylight.

The rain forecast for the next few days is .1”-.25” tomorrow, another .5”-.75” Saturday, and 1-2” on Sunday. These numbers are for Mt. Hood, so expect a third of those amounts to fall in the valleys.

So what do those numbers mean? You’ll still be riding Post Canyon tomorrow, most likely, but it will be muddy by Saturday. Same goes for the upper elevation rides. The chanerelles and matsuake won’t like this rain either, so go pick them today. As for the rivers, we’ll see them come up a bit, but the previous forecast of 2-3” of rain looked a lot better for making kayakers happy. If we only see 1-2” on Sunday, I don’t think we’ll see the Hood break 4.0 feet.

If you’re hoping for some windsurfing or kiting this weekend, your best bet will be the southerly winds blowing on the coast for much of the weekend. If you’re staying in the Gorge, the best chance is way out east on Sunday as the mega-storm crosses the Northwest. Timing will be everything, but 30ish seems pretty reasonable if the storm moves during the daylight hours.

The Columbia Gorge Marathon is Sunday, and there are still about 100 spots open if you’d like to race last-minute style. I am not sure if running marathons in the rain is fun, but I bet volunteering is. Finally, if you’re looking for something to do on this rainy weekend, Mark Nilsson is having an “I’m going to Paris to celebrate my big birthday” Studio Sale from 10-5 on 7 Hazel in Hood River. Come pick up some cool paintings and meet the cool artist.

Have an awesome day today!

Temira

p.s. If you find this report useful, entertaining, or just want to recognize all the hard work that goes into it, please take the time to make a donation by clicking on the button at the bottom of the page. For a suggested donation of $10, I’ll add you to the email version of this list ‘til May 2011, putting you in the running for cool prizes donated by the weekly sponsors.

Good morning!

It’s 36 degrees at Larry’s house as I write this forecast at 7:30am. I’m not sure of the temperatures at Stevenson or Rooster Rock, but I’m guessing it’s chilly at the beach as well. However, it is windy, with a .13 gradient driving low thirties at Rooster and low twenties at Stevenson.

We’ll see 30ish at Rooster this morning and 24-27 at Stevenson. As always with easterlies, you must get it early.

Tomorrow doesn’t look windy, unless you’re headed to the coast for a 30+ knot southerly wavesailing or speedsailing session. The upper low driving tomorrow’s south wind will be followed by a second upper low on Friday, for a second round of coastal speedsailing.

The real weather fun begins on Friday, as the first in a series of systems hits the Northwest. The final result of this change in the weather – due to the jet stream changing course and slamming directly into Oregon – is, in NOAA’s words, “SNOW LEVELS MAY FALL BELOW THE CASCADE PASSES BEGINNING LATE SUNDAY AND MONDAY FOR SIGNIFICANT MOUNTAIN SNOW. STAY TUNED.”

Here’s the synopsis: rain should start late Thursday night into Friday morning. ½” of water value Friday, ¾” on Saturday, 2-3” Sunday, 1” on Monday. At some point Sunday, the snow level will drop to 4-5k. On Monday, snow levels fall to 3-4k. This is low enough that we’ll see snow at Skibowl, T-Line and Meadows. I’m waiting until Saturday to see when the snow levels drop to see if it’s worth skiing Sunday. Stay tuned.

Speaking of skiing, if you want lift-serve, remember that T-line is only open Fri-Sun at this point. However, your winter Fusion Pass will get you on the slopes. Assuming visibility and avy danger are okay, Monday should be a decent day for skinning. This storm is coming in warm and cooling off, so it’s going to be good base-building snow. Keep your fingers crossed for a stable snowpack this winter!

Finally, if you’re looking for something to do on this rainy weekend, Mark Nilsson is having an “I’m going to Paris to celebrate my big birthday” Studio Sale from 10-5 on 7 E. Hazel in Hood River. Come pick up some cool paintings and meet the cool artist.

Temira