weather - 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

People keep asking me to ask Meadows to run a bus from Hood River. Okay, people. There’s a bus on Saturday for Brewfest. $10. Leaves the Hood River News parking lot at 10am. Returns at 5pm. You do not have to attend Brewfest to ride the bus.

Mt. Hood Snow Forecast – 5000′
Friday
Saturday
Sunday

Mt. Hood Snow Forecast

Today brings a few light flurries to Mt. Hood, with less than 1” of accumulation. Much less than 1”, most likely. Temps will be in the single digits. The wind will be light this morning, picking up to E 20 in the afternoon.

Tomorrow looks very, very cold on Mt. Hood, with temps at or below zero in the morning under sunny skies. Wind will be E 10 early, NE 15 midday and NE 30+ in the afternoon.

Sunday looks warmer, with temps in the teens under mostly clear sky. Wind will be N 20-30 in the morning, rising to N 30+ by midday.

Temps moderate through the week, but the next real system doesn’t arrive until late Wednesday. At this point, snow levels look better than Pineapple-style, but they still look borderline, with 5000′ temps around 34 degrees. Maybe that will change as we get closer. At this point, it’s looking like we’ll see significant ski resort snow at the end of next week, but again, we all know how little faith we should put in those long-range models.

Plain Old Local Weather

Today will be cloudy, with a chance of flurries and temps in the 20’s. Tomorrow will be very, very cold, but likely sunny. Sunday will be very cold with a chance of a few high clouds. It’s now looking like we’ll go above freezing on Monday during the day, dropping back below freezing Tuesday and Wednesday, and then rapidly warming up.

Models are no longer showing any sort of horrendous ice event, but they are showing the possibility of some frozen rain Wednesday night before this cold snap breaks for good.

Gorge Wind Forecast

Apparently there were people out kiteboarding two days ago. People, have you not heard of hypothermia? It’s a deadly illness caused by cold. Hypothermia potential continues today, with east wind picking up to the 40+ category at Rooster. Tomorrow starts at 40ish, fading during the day. Sunday brings easterlies in the 20’s.

Road and Mountain Biking

A friend of mine rode Post Canyon yesterday and said it was “frigid”. So I guess that means it’s good to go: hard, fast and fun.

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

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

I know there has to be stuff going on this weekend. You tell me!

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 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