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Forecast

Thursday: excellent packed powder followed by new snow followed by cold.

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

Mt. Hood Snow Forecast – 5000′
4a-8a 8a-12p 12p-4p 4p-8p 8p-4a
Thrusday
6500′
Friday
6500′->10000′
>Saturday
10000′->1500′

Mt. Hood Weather Forecast

Packed powder conditions start the day on Mt. Hood. Partly cloudy weather and warming temps this afternoon will start to transition the snow to hardpack. Will it have time to make it all the way to corn snow by the time the next snowfall arrives on Saturday afternoon? Almost certainly not. We’re then looking at around a foot of new snow between Saturday afternoon and Monday morning before a couple days of much colder, very dry weather for the middle of next week. Models hint at this ridge of high pressure breaking down towards the end of the month, but the GFS hints at it rebuilding. So, no certainty about a return to wetter weather in the long range forecast.

Thursday starts out clear on the mountain, turns partly cloudy midday, and returns to clear sky overnight. No precip. Wind will be NW 20-25 through the afternoon and will drop to NW 15-20 overnight. Friday will be sunny all day long. Heck, it’ll stay clear all night too. The free air freezing level will be 6500′ in the morning, 7500′ in the afternoon, and 10,000′ overnight. Temps max out near 40F. Wind: NW 15-20 in the morning, WNW 15-20 in the afternoon, and W 30 overnight.

A cold front will approach on Saturday and hit the mountain in the afternoon. The freezing level will be 10,000′ early and will drop to 2000′ by the time precip arrives. The snow level falls to 1500′-2000′ overnight. About 0.3” water equivalent is predicted by the models overnight, but orographics are likely to bump the snowfall up. Let’s call it 3-5” new. Wind: W 30 in the morning, NW 35-45 in the afternoon, and WNW 30-35 overnight.

Snow continues all day Sunday in the form of light and fluffy powder. The snow level will be 1500-2000′ in the morning and will fall to 500-1000′ after midnight with just a few lingering flurries. During the day, 0.4” WE is forecast. Add in orographics for 4-6” new snow. Overnight: 0.3” WE with fading moisture, for 2-4” new. Wind: WNW 30-35 in the morning fading to NW 15-20 in the afternoon and NW 10-15 overnight. A few flurries may linger on Monday before we go into very

Note on wind speeds. Different wind directions are experienced in different ways on Mt. Hood. For example, west wind at 50mph will hit the slopes and exposed ridges at W 50. SW 50 may hit the ridges at SW 50, but will likely only be SW 20 below tree line. Hence the ranges for wind. Depends where you are on the mountain. Hopefully that helps clarify.  

Gorge Wind Forecast

Westerlies continue in late spring form despite the fact that it’s late winter. Thursday starts with gradients of W .07 and W .08 with westerlies generally in the 5-10 range. Viento is running 10-20 to start. We’ll see the wind pick up to gusty 24-28 from Viento to Arlington today with a brief period of 27-31 possible between Rowena and Arlington late morning to early afternoon. River flow is 145kcfs, river temp is 38F, and high temp forecast is 48F.

Friday starts with 5-10 most places and 14-17 from Viento to Hood River. The wind builds to 17-20 from Viento to Mosier with 11-14 east of Mosier and 14-17 at Stevenson. High temp: 52F. Saturday brings an approaching cold front. That gives us a round of strong, very gusty west wind. Get it early (in the mid-30’s cold) for steadiest results. The day starts with 23-27 from Viento to Mosier with 11-14 east to Arlington. Models say the wind will build to gusty 27-31 from Viento to Threemile by later morning and fade to 22-25 early afternoon. Rain arrives in the western Gorge around 4pm. High temp: 49F.

BONUS COAST FORECAST (north/central/south, waves). Thursday: LTW/LTNW/N30-35, NW 4′ @8 and W 7 @ 16. Friday: 10-15/20-25/30-35, NW 2′ @ 6 and W 7 @ 15. Saturday: WSW10/V to 5/N 30-40, W 4′ @ 5 and W 6′ @ 13.  

Coast, Jones, Coast

Done until spring, unless there’s an obvious Coast or Sauvie’s or Jones day.  

Hood River Weather Forecast

Partly cloudy sky this morning stays that way. Temps will be in the low 40’s early and upper 40’s later. Strong westerlies. No rainbows. Friday will be sunny. Temps will be in the mid 30’s early and low 50’s later. Moderate westerlies. No rainbows. Saturday will be clear early and cloudy from mid-morning on. Temps will be in the mid 30’s early and upper 40’s later. Strong westerlies. No rainbows. Rain overnight.

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

Out in the woods, the trails above 2000′ are snow covered. Freeze-thaw information: if you notice that temps were below freezing last night and will be above freezing today, don’t ride any trail that’s not under a tree canopy. If you do so, you will cause significant damage. Then people will have to come fix your messes instead of building new trails. Better idea: gravel and road riding.  

Local Events

Please let me know about events. I often only hear about them if you folx let me know!

Ferment’s Tuesday night 4-mile walk/run is back. Meet there at 6pm. At 7:15am on Wednesdays, there’s a run from the White Salmon Bakery. At 7am on Friday morning, you can get a donut and coffee for going for a run at Kickstand Coffee. There’s a night-lit shop mountain bike ride with the Mountain View Cycles crew at Syncline on Wednesday evenings at 5:45pm. The Cold Lap mixed surface ride is at Dirty Fingers at 2pm on Sundays. The John Craig memorial ski race and tour is March 19th in Sisters on McKenzie Pass.  

Sprinter Van of the Week!

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