Thursday: cool and cloudy in the west, windy out east

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The Forecast

Your favorite beach	Dawn Patrol	9am- 11:30a	11:30a- 3pm	3pm- dusk
Today’s Gorge Wind – these are ranges for the average speed, not a predicted wind range. =)
Rooster Rock	OPEN!	naked	buns	rejoice!
Steven’s Locks	11-14	11-14	7-10	7-10
Swell-Hood River	11-14	11-14	11-14	11-14
Lyle to Doug’s	11-14	11-14	27-31??	27-31??
Rufus, etc.	20-23	24-27	27-31+	27-31+
Roosevelt & Arlington	20-23	20-23	27-31	27-31

Gorge Wind Forecast

Today’s our cooldown day. For ideal wind, a different weather pattern would be preferred, but today’s cold front will be good enough for upper 20’s to low 30’s out east. The cooldown is short-lived, but don’t you worry. Strong offshore high pressure gives us westerlies Friday and Saturday for sure, and possibly Sunday as well.

For Thursday, like I said, there’s a cold front coming through. Clouds will increase in the western Gorge through late morning. With this setup, we start the day at 11-14 in the west (Viento will likely be 20-26ish all day) with 20-23 in the eastern Gorge. Westerlies build east of the low clouds, which will shift east as the day goes on. Stay in the sunshine, and you’ll find 27-31, perhaps more near Rufus, from early afternoon through sunset. In the western Gorge, the wind will drop to 7-10 near Stevenson and 12-15 from Tunnels to Mosier. Rowena and Doug’s will be right on the edge of wind/not-wind today. Make your call as you drive past. River flow is 116kcfs and river temp is 69. High temp Hood River: 72.

Say “bye-bye” to that frontal system this evening. It’ll be out of our region by Friday morning. Left behind: light westerlies in the 7-10 range from Stevenson to Hood River with light wind east of there. Afternoon westerlies: 17-20 from Stevenson to Mosier with 13-16 from Lyle to Doug’s. High temp: 79.

Strong offshore high pressure on Saturday drives stronger westerlies. It’ll also be muggy, which will make being in the river delightful. Expect westerlies at 14-17 from Viento to Mosier in the morning with 7-10 to Arlington and at Stevenson. Afternoon: 24-27 from Stevenson to Rufus. Looking at Sunday: temps equalize across the Cascades. We might see light westerlies despite this, but chances are slim. Most of Monday looks glassy, but westerlies should return late afternoon as Thermal Power does its thing.

Due to crowding and unsafe conditions at Port beaches, further restrictions are now in place. Remember: crowds lead to closures. First, kiting is no longer allowed at the Marina – it has become unsafe for other user groups. Third, Lyle is now off limits unless you can get to the sandbar without crossing the RR tracks. If you cross the tracks, you are likely to be ticketed. Next, parking has been further reduced along the waterfront – various restrictions are in place due to crowding at Frog Beach. The Nichols boat dock remains closed due to crowding.

Coast, Jones, Sauvie’st

Coast (north/central/south – swell forecast provided by NWS. Wind northerly except as noted). Thursday: LTNW/LTNW/N30-35, W swell 4′ at 9 seconds. Friday: NW10/N15-20/30-40, W 6′ @ 11. Saturday: 20-25/25-30/35-40, W 7′ @ 10. Sauvie Island Thursday: 10-13. Friday: 10-13. Saturday: 15-18. Jones Thursday: 10-13. Friday: 10-13. Saturday: 20-23.

Oregon
Rooster Rock: Open
Viento: Open
The Hook: Open
Waterfront Park: Open
Event Site: Open. Parking limited on weekends.
The Spit: Open
The Marina: No more kiting here
Boat ramp: open
Mosier: Only open for residents of 97040. Gate closed.
Rowena: Open
Celilo: Open
Rufus: Open
Arlington: Open
Threemile: Open

Mt. Hood Weather Forecast

Mt. Hood Meadows is now allowing uphill travel within the permit area. However, you will need to park outside their parking lots. Timberline is open for lift-serve skiing with exemplary guidelines for protecting guests and staff from the transmission of novel coronavirus. Please read their guidelines and rules here. Well done, T-Line! The Mt. Hood weather forecast will be on vacation unless something interesting happens in the weather up there. Some of you will be tempted to go out backcountry skiing. Please don’t – accidents do happen, and you may put others at risk. Timberline is allowing uphill access outside the permit area on the climbers’ trail only.

Hood River Weather Forecast

Partly cloudy sky this morning turns cloudy by late morning and partly cloudy again this afternoon. Sprinkles are possible. Temps will be in the low 60’s early and low 70’s later. Moderate westerlies become light in the afternoon. 10% chance of rainbows. Friday starts partly cloudy and ends with high clouds. Temps will be in the mid 50’s early and upper 70’s later. Light wind early. Moderate later. No rainbows. Saturday looks partly cloudy and muggy, or maybe just muggy. Temps will be in the mid 50’s early and near 80 later. Moderate to strong westerlies. No rainbows. Looking for a complete Columbia Gorge forecast? Looking for more humor in your weather? Obscenities? You’re looking for my TATAS: Temira’s Awesome Travel Advisory Service on Facebook.

Cycling

8/4 Road and gravel news: the Fir Mountain Fire has areas north and east of Pine Grove limited to local traffic only. Also stay away from Fir Mountain Road, Old Dalles Road, and Huskey / Elder Roads. Motorized report: as of 8/1, Post Canyon is closed to motorized use due to fire danger. Other Post news: Eldorado is closed about 100 yards before the Mixed Tape intersection due to timber harvesting. HRATS will be putting in a short hike-a-bike to Uptrack to allow for riding up to the top of Bad Motor Scooter. The new Whoopdee trail is being constructed. Contact HRATS if you would like to be part of some small and socially distanced work parties.

Sprinter Van of the Week!

Click here for the Sprinter Van map of the world!!!

Local Events

There are sailboat races at the Hood River Marina every Wednesday evening. Dirty Fingers has a group mountain bike ride Thursday nights at 5:30pm. Cheno has an outdoor HIIT workout at Columbia High School in White Salmon at 6pm on Wednesday nights. That’s pretty much it for outdoor sports. There is a BLM rally every Tuesday evening at 5:30 at the Salmon Fountain in Hood River, and there’s a White Coats for BLM rally every Wednesday evening at 6pm at 12th and May. Click here for the full events calendar.

Have an awesome day!

Temira