wind 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.

—

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!

This week’s sponsor is the
Crossfit Hood River, a fun and challenging workout that will get your butt in shape for the upcoming epic ski season. If you haven’t tried Crossfit, you can head to the Crossfit Gym for a free class at any time to check it out. What have you got to lose? Exactly… nothing… so get up there this week and give it a try. Your legs will thank you when the powder starts falling.

We’ve got a bit of a complicated weather picture today with a frontal system moving across the Cascades during the day. The 5am gradient was at .14 from Portland to The Dalles with another .05 out east. That’s a really solid start for this time of year, so you can expect 25-29 from Hood River to Mosier this morning, filling in from Lyle out to Arlington as the front passes this afternoon.

As the front passes, the wind may get horribly gusty and die off near Hood River. If that happens while you’re at the Hatch or Sandbar, don’t panic. It just means you’re going to have to shift east to get the goods.

Coming up tomorrow, a very strong high pressure system builds off the coast. This is going to keep the west winds going for one last day before calmer, summer-like weather and glassy conditions return to the Gorge on Tuesady (and the wind shifts to the coast). We’ll start off with 18-22 near Hood River, but steady westerlies in the mid twenties from Stevenson down to Mosier look very likely tomorrow afternoon.

If you’re a surfer, today and tomorrow look good at the coast. Light north wind combines with an 11 foot swell at 14 seconds. Webcams yesterday showed big, clean waves, so get out there and get some. Tomorrow looks good too, with light wind in the morning and a dropping 8 foot swell.

Boaters, the White Salmon is between 1.6 and 1.7 feet and the Klickitat’s at 727 cfs.

If you’re headed out into the woods, don’t forget that rifle hunting season started yesterday. Wearing blaze orange and leaving your dog at home would be very, very good ideas.

Have a great day today!

Temira