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Thursday: breezy but unstable…

The best wind forecast for the Gorge. The best snow forecast for Mt. Hood. The best weather forecast for the Gorge.

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These are ranges for the average speed reading, not a predicted wind range. =)
Your favorite launch dawn
patrol
morning max afternoon max executive
session
Iwash (Rooster) Rock morning clouds afternoon buns
Stevenson 7-10 16-20 G22-25 G17-20
Viento 17-20 20-23 G22-25 G17-20
Swell-Hood River 17-20 20-23 G22-25 G17-20
Lyle to Doug’s 13-16 20-23 25-28? 25-28?
Rufus, etc: 111-181kcfs flow 13-16 20-23 25-28? 25-28?
Roosevelt & Arlington 13-16 13-16 22-25 22-25
River flow last 24 hours: 99-183kcfskcfsRiver temp: 70.88F HR High temp: 74F

Gorge Wind Forecast

Hi friends! A decent shot of westerlies today (Thursday) is followed by lesser wind on Friday and a rather chaotic weather setup on Saturday. Beyond that, models suggest an upper level low will settle in off the coast and turn down the reliability dial on the westerlies.

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For today, Thursday, we start with pressures of 30.10/30.01/30.00 for 7am gradients of 0.09 and 0.01. This suggests you’ll do best near Hood River early. As a trough moves northeast today, our calm atmosphere gets disrupted, the wind turns gustier, and it fills in farther east. For the morning, westerlies rise to 20-23 (maybe a couple mph more if we get lucky, but instability makes me skeptical) from Viento to Mosier with 15-18 from Lyle to Rufus. Stevenson takes its time and builds to 16-20. As the wave moves north early afternoon, westerlies pick up to 22-25 from Stevenson to Arlington, strongest between Swell and Doug’s. If the atmosphere can stay stable-enough in the face of the instability and shenanigans, we’ll see 25-28 from Mosier to Rufus in the afternoon. Stevenson-Hood River dips to 17-20, and Arlington holds at 22-25. As always, remember that this prediction is for sensor readings, and sensors from Maryhill out to Arlington read high (as does Viento). River flow over the last 24 hours was 99-183kcfs, river temp is 70.88F, and high temp forecast is 74F for Hood River and 80F for Arlington.

Friday starts with a nice marine layer to the west. Early wind will be 13-16 all the way from Stevenson to Boardman. The wind falls off out east within a few hours. Set your sights on Stevenson-Mosier for 18-21 in the morning. Afternoon: 18-21 or a touch more from Stevenson to Avery with 11-14 from Celilo to Arlington. High temp: 77F for Hood River.

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Venmo

If someone has given you a forecast for Saturday, disregard it for now. The timing and location of an incoming wave of energy is still up in the air, and ensembles are all over the place with wind speed. If you look at the deterministic GFS, you’ll come away with the idea of a nuking afternoon session. That’s just one possible solution. For now, let’s say it’ll be light, too light, in the morning. If everything follows the lead of the D-GFS, we’ll see a mid to late afternoon blast. But that’s low probability for now.

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Extended: starting Sunday, models set an upper level low offshore and keep it there for a good long while. This changes the dynamic of the wind. Rather than relying on a static setup – offshore high plus inland heat low – we’ll be relying on waves of energy wrapping around the low. This doesn’t mean we won’t see wind; it does mean the wind will be gusty, shorter-lived, and hard to predict in advance due to timing differences between ensemble members. But hey, it’ll be cool enough to engage in some other activities! See you on the river later today!  

 

Jones, Sauvie Island, Oregon Coast

North/Central/South coast, waves (swell forecast provided by NWS). Wind forecast for the afternoon (unless it’s a storm on the coast, in which case that’s peak wind during the day). Wind direction N (coast/Sauvie Island) and W (Jones) unless otherwise noted. Thursday: LTW/LTNW/N15, NW swell 3′ @ 10 seconds. Friday: LTNW/N10-15/N20, NW 3′ @ 9. Saturday: LTV/LTV/LTV, NW 3′ @ 8. Jones Thursday: 11-14. Friday: 11-14. Saturday: 10-13. Sauvie Island Thursday: 9-12. Friday: 11-14. Saturday: LTV.

Alan’s Sauvie Island Wind Sensor  

Mt. Hood Weather Forecast

I’m tired. It’s on vacation.  

Very basic Hood River weather forecast. Don’t plan your life around this. You really should read Temira’s Awesome Travel Advisory Service on Facebook

A mix of clouds sticks around all day. Temps start in the mid 60s and rise to the mid 70s. Moderately strong westerlies. No rainbows. Friday will be partly cloudy then mostly clear. Temps start in the mid 50s and rise to the upper 70s. Moderate westerlies. No rainbows. Saturday will be mostly clear in the morning, cloudy in the afternoon, and might bring rain overnight. Temps start in the mid 50s and rise to the low 80s. Muggy. Light west wind in the morning. Somewhat stronger in the afternoon. 3% chance of rainbows.  

Local-ish Events

Please let me know of outdoor-related local-ish events. If you don’t tell me, I don’t know!

There’s a weekly social for Wind Johnnies (The Gorge Wind Social) at Ferment Brewing every 3rd Monday this summer. There’s a free community paddle at Wylde Wind and Water every Saturday at 10am (gear provided, all ages). They also have a free community wingfoil orientation every Thursday at 5:30pm at the Hook (all ages, gear provided). Northwave and GoFoil sponsor wingfoil races on Tuesday evenings.

The Columbia Gorge Junior Kayak Club offers free roll sessions (gear provided) for kids at the Hood River Pool every other Tuesday from 5:30 to 7pm. Visit their website for more deets: https://www.columbiagorgejuniorkayakclub.org/. Amayah’s offers a free meal every First Thursday from 1pm to 4pm. Regular weekly events:. NK Studio’s by-donation Tuesday morning yoga class is back. Ferment’s Tuesday night 4-mile walk/run is at 6pm. There’s meditation with monks at 5:15pm (an hour) and 6:30pm (30 minutes plus a talk) at Yoga Samadhi in White Salmon. Columbia Gorge Tri Club meets at Mayer State Park at 6pm Tuesdays. At 7:15am on Wednesdays, there’s a run from the White Salmon Bakery. At 7am on Friday morning, there’s a run from Pine Street Bakery. On Fridays at 2:30pm, there’s a free meditation and stretching class at Yoga Samadhi. On Saturday at 9am, there’s a by-donation outdoor group fitness on the 2rd floor deck about Ferment Brewing.  

Cycling

All vehicles on HR County forest roads need a gallon of water and a shovel. All areas to the west of 140 trail in Post Canyon are closed. Please see the HRATS for complete details, but essentially, all that is open is 7 Streams, Eldorado, 140, GP, and other trails in those areas. Mobius, Mitchell Ridge, Spaghetti, etc are all closed. People have been riding the closed trails. If this continues, all of Post will be closed. The sheriff is patrolling, and will ticket you. The Twin Tunnels Trail between Hood River and Mosier is closed due to wildfire. Kreps and Green Diamond Land (formerly SDS) are now closed to fire danger. That includes Whoopdee, Hospital Hill, and Underwood. Those lands will remain closed until significant rain in the fall. Also closed: Gorge 400 and lots of other trails due to the Whisky Creek Fire. Ape Canyon and Plains of Abraham are open per USFS website. 44 Road trails are all open and clear, including upper 450 and Fifteenmile. Gunsight is open. Boulder Lakes and other more remote trails are not bucked out yet. Remember that E-bikes are not allowed on USFS non-moto trails. They are allowed on moto trails.  

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Have an awesome day!

By Temira

Temira Lital is a recreation and travel weather forecaster based in Hood River, Oregon. Temira uses they/them pronouns. They're also a mental health counselor. Temira bikes, skis, windsurfs, paddles a SUP, swims in mountain lakes, and loves gardening. Most recently they've taken up SUP foiling. Temira is powered by La Croix, protein, and beets.