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Random Morning Thoughts
I could get used to lolly-gagging in bed for an hour before I get up and write the forecast. This is nice.
Cool Local Business – Please Support It
The Best Western Plus Hood River Inn has great ski and stay packages for Mt. Hood, starting at $209 for a one-day ski & ride package for two people. Multi-day ski packages are crazy good deals. Save yourself the snowy, stressful drive home and stay in the Hood! For all you visitors and locals, show this add and Buy one entrée, get second entrée HALF PRICE for lunch or dinner, Sunday-Thursday through February 28th. And don’t forget about the awesome M-F 4-6pm Happy Hour and Tuesday $12 Prime Rib!
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Mt. Hood Snow Forecast
I just spent 30 minutes writing the Gorge weather forecast. It’s so fascinating… such a cool place to live if you happen to be a weather junkie!
I keep forgetting to mention that Skibowl opened the Upper Bowl a couple of weeks ago, so they are now totally open. And they still have the best nachos on Mt. Hood, rivaled for “best ever” only by the nachos at Everybody’s in White Salmon.
I also keep forgetting to mention that I have a pair of last year’s Rossignol S7W, 178cm, in excellent condition, for sale. Skied maybe 30 times. Mounted once for Axl Tele bindings. This ski is exactly the same as the men’s 178cm S7 with radder graphics. Best offer or trade offer. No silly or insulting offers, please.
Now, the forecast. Today looks like a mixed precip day on Hood. The snow level will be 6000′ early, dropping a bit to 5500′ mid-afternoon and then rising to 6500′ around 4pm before dropping back to 5500′ in Friday’s wee hours. We’ll see .2-.3” water value (WV) of mixed precip between now and 4pm, followed by another .1” or so overnight. Wind will be SW 10 early, rising to WSW 20 midday and becoming SW 10-15 overnight.
Friday starts off with the snow level at 5500′, quickly dropping to 1500′ mid-morning and to the surface overnight as cold air moves in from the east. We’ll see a few flurries during the day with sunbreaks for no real snow accumulation, followed by .1-.2” WV overnight for maybe a couple inches of snow. Wind will be light and variable early, becoming E 15-20 by midday.
Saturday looks partly cloudy, with mid-level clouds and sun above. Temps will be in the low double-digits at 5000′ and in the low 20’s at 9000′. Hello inversion. We’ll see some flurries during the day, followed by more flurries overnight. At this point, it doesn’t look like we’ll see significant accumulation. Wind will be west 10-20.
Sunday brings flurries for much of the day, followed by heavier, warmer precip after 4pm. Temps will be sub-freezing at all elevations, warming above freezing at 5000′ sometime Sunday afternoon or evening, just in time for the precip. I suspect we’ll start with heavy, wet snow, and then see a switch to heavy sleet and freezing rain in the evening. No precip values yet, as a lot depends on the storm track. Wind will be W 30 for much of the day. Monday looks rainy on Mt. Hood.
Gorge Wind
Yep, it’s windy: 30 at Steven’s Locks and 42 at Rooster Rock. These easterlies will back off to light wind this afternoon as the offshore low driving them disappears. Friday starts with east wind in the low teens, picking up to E 35-45 in the afternoon as cold, high-pressure air crawls southward from Canada. We’ll see east wind at 30-40 on Saturday and E 26-30, fading in the afternoon, most likely, on Sunday.
Gorge Weather
Yep, it’s windy: 30 at Steven’s Locks and 42 at Rooster Rock. These easterlies will back off to light wind this afternoon as the offshore low driving them disappears. Friday starts with east wind in the low teens, picking up to E 35-45 in the afternoon as cold, high-pressure air crawls southward from Canada. We’ll see east wind at 30-40 on Saturday and E 26-30, fading in the afternoon, most likely, on Sunday.
Gorge Weather
First, I have to say that I’m disappointed in how much the models have changed from the original ass-freezing cold snap scenario. Yes, it’s still going to get cold, but not nearly as cold as originally predicted. Figures. It’s almost March, right? Anyway, today will be cloudy with temps in the mid-30’s early and low 40’s in the afternoon with easterly breezes. We’ll see a chance of sprinkles between now and 4pm, with mostly-dry weather overnight.
Friday starts with temps in the upper 30’s, holding all day, and then dropping below freezing after sunset. Light east wind completes that picture. We’ll probably have low clouds all day, but we might see some sunbreaks. At this point, it looks like the moisture moving in Friday night will be mostly south of us, but a small shift in the setup could leave us with some snow on the ground by Saturday morning.
Saturday looks cloudy with mid-level clouds. Temps will be in the mid-20’s in the morning and upper 20’s in the afternoon. We may see some flurries Saturday night.
Sunday looks complicated, with the weather models all over the place. The general scenario is cold air at all elevations in the morning followed by cold air at the surface with warm, wet air moving over the top in the afternoon. Add continuous precip to that for a messy weather day in the Gorge.
At this point, I suspect we’ll see light flurries from 4am Sunday through 4pm Sunday, for no significant accumulation. From 4pm Sunday through 4am Monday, we’ll see .2-.4” water value fall as snow that switches to sleet and freezing rain Sunday evening, and then plain-old-rain by early Monday morning, for 1-2” of the white stuff that turns to slush by Monday morning.
As always in these scenarios, models are all over the place with the dissipation of the cold air. That said, the GFS sounding has the Gorge at 21ºF at 7pm Sunday, and the 12k surface temp model keeps us sub-freezing through Sunday night. That’s not a great sign for just-rain Sunday.
Starting Monday morning, things just look wet for a couple of days.
Road and Mountain Biking
The Gorge 400 west out of Wyeth was riding great yesterday – perfect dirt. I love that trail. Such big trees. So much moss. So many bright green ferns. I bet Syncline is fine too. Not sure about Post. The road should be nice today too, with temps above freezing a light east breeze kicking around.
The Clymb: free membership. Cheap gear. Temira approves. Click to join.
Events – email me if I’ve missed any outdoor-related events
There’s pickup rugby tonight at 3:30 at Henkle Middle School.
Have an awesome day today!
Temira
