snow - The Gorge is my Gym

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Good morning!

I’m starting to run out of rain-related quips, so it’s time for the rain to stop. Strangely, Mother Nature must have sensed this, as the rain will stop sometime overnight tonight, giving way to partly cloudy skies and sunbreaks tomorrow, with lots of sunshine in the extended forecast.

Mountain Weather Forecast:

Today looks wet on the mountain, with a total of .5” to 1” of rain expected to fall between now and 10pm or so. Models are not handling the storm path well, but given the radar image, a forecast of 1” of rain doesn’t seem out of line. Rain will be moderate between now and 4pm, becoming light in the evening. The snow level will be around 7000’, rising to 8000’. The real problem today is not the rain: it’s the wind. Although winds are light right now, out of the NW at 10-20 or so, they’ll pick up quickly to W 35-40 by noon, switching to NW 30-40 mid-afternoon as the front passes, turning to NW 30-40 by 8pm. This does not bode well for running high speed quads today. You may want to exercise your quads in some other manner today.

Tomorrow morning looks cloudy, with skies becoming clear by midday. Winds early will be N 10-15, becoming light and variable for the rest of the day. It’s going to be warm tomorrow, with highs around 40° at the base area, maybe a bit warmer. The free air freezing level will be around 8000-9000’.

Sunday looks dry and warm, with highs around 44° at 5000’. Winds will be fairly light, out of the west at 5-10mph. The free air freezing level will be around 9000-10000’.

Monday through Thursday look dry and warm, with the FAF around 10,000’. Hopefully radiational cooling overnight will be enough to give us good corn snow during the day. This weather should make the backcountry skiing pretty fun and pretty safe over the coming week.

Gorge Wind Forecast:

Today brings another round of west winds in the Gorge. We’re seeing 10-20 this morning as the front stalls overhead, but as it moves east this afternoon, winds and gradients pick up. 28-32 from Mosier eastward is likely, with the possibility of gusty 26-30 in the Corridor. Watch for logs and other debris in the water if you’re headed out.

Tomorrow starts off with westerlies in the 12-17 range, fading quickly. Sunday and Monday look light, and then strong easterlies build on Tuesday.
Have a great day today!

Temira

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Good morning!

Mountain Weather Forecast:

It’s another beautiful day on Mt. Hood, and no, I didn’t wear my bikini to the mountain today. However, it looks like we’ll see more bikini weather next week, so there’s another chance for all of us to remember our fair-weather clothing.

We’ll see clear skies for the morning, at least, with high clouds moving in during the afternoon today. The free air freezing level, at 2000’ or so right now, will rise to around 9000’ later today, possibly as high as 10000’ by this evening. West wind at 10-15 this morning will rise to W 25-35 by noon, going to NW 25-35 by 8pm. I

Tomorrow looks wet on Mt. Hood, with light rain starting by 2am, becoming moderate by 10am, becoming light again in the evening, and ending by 4am Saturday. Total precip will be .25” to .5”. I’m thinking we’ll see closer to .5” of rain. The snow level tomorrow will be around 7500-8000’ for the entire day, falling to 6000’ by Saturday morning. Winds on Friday start at W 20-25, building to W 30-40, and switching to NW 30-40 by 8pm. I think all lifts at Meadows will run through this system.

Saturday morning looks cloudy, with partly cloudy skies by afternoon. It should be dry on Saturday, with the free air freezing level around 6000’. Morning winds will be N 10-15, decreasing to light W wind by evening.

Sunday looks dry and sunny, with the free air freezing level around 6500 feet. Winds will be light and variable. The early part of next week looks relatively warm, sunny and dry.

Gorge Wind Forecast:

We’ll see light westerlies today, building to 14-18 by early afternoon. Tomorrow starts off light, but with the passage of a cold front mid-afternoon, we’ll see westerlies pick up into the 22-27 range from Hood River down to Doug’s. However, this may not happen until after dark, and it may be rainy, which will destroy the wind quality. Saturday brings light wind to the Gorge.

Enjoy the sunshine!

Temira