Thursday: Gorge wind today, mountain snow tonight, mountain rain Sunday

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

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The Forecast

	4a-8a	8a-12p	12p-4p	4p-8p	8p-4a
Mt. Hood Snow Forecast – 5000′
Thursday 3000′->1500′
Friday 1500′->3500′
Saturday 3500′->10,000′

Mt. Hood Snow Forecast

Hello everyone! I’m back from retreat, and it sounds like the worst-case scenario came into play during the snowstorm last weekend – the weather system came just far enough north, just early enough (Saturday afternoon) to switch the precip from snow to rain after two feet instead of four. Then we received 9” rain. Total precip while I was gone: 11.88” at Meadows. Wow. Just wow. We’re going to pick up a foot or a bit more of snow today into tomorrow. Yay. We’ll have a dry day on Friday, and we’ll have a nice Saturday morning. Not-nice, aka “really rainy” weather returns Saturday afternoon and persists until Sunday afternoon. Rain totals from that system are 1.5-3.0”. Boo hiss. The forecast after that looks dry for a bit. Following the dry weather, the possible temp range is big, but it’s also concerning. Mean temps at 850mb (5000′) remain above 0C, meaning there’s little to no snow forecast through the last week of this month. Hopefully that changes! It still could!

Thursday kicks off with clear sky on the mountain. Snow starts up mid-morning and persists overnight. The snow level will be 2500′-3000′ to start and will fall to 1000-1500′ overnight as 850mb temps drop to -5C. About 0.3” water equivalent (WE) falls before sunset, for a few inches of new snow. Intensity ramps up overnight as strong wind drives orographic snowfall. Call it 1.0” WE for 10-13” of increasingly fluffy snow. So, that’s 13-16” by Friday morning. Wind: WSW 25-40 in the morning, WNW 40-45 in the afternoon, and WNW 25-30 overnight.

Friday starts with a few flurries and then turns clear. Ski resorts will be frantically grooming. The snow level will be around 1000-1500′ during the day and will rise to about 3500-4000′ overnight. Trace of snow is all you get. Wind: WNW 25-35 early fades to NW 10 in the afternoon and turns to SW 5-15 overnight.

Saturday is one of those “interesting” days. By that, I mean you’d better get up there early! The day starts high overcast. A bit of snow kicks off early afternoon and switches to mixed precip or rain late afternoon. The effective snow level (based on 850mb temps) will be around 3500′ in the morning, 8000′ around sunset, 10,000′ in the evening, and 8500′ after midnight. About 0.1” WE falls as snow before a switch to rain. Call it 1.8” rain overnight. Wind; S 5-15 in the morning, SW 25-40 in the afternoon, W 50 overnight (orographic assistance to the rain!), and W 50 after midnight too. Heavy rain continues through early afternoon Sunday. .After that: dry, above-freezing weather for a while. Cross your fingers for a change in the extended forecast. It looks rather warm. Get it while you can!

Gorge Wind Forecast

Hi friends! It’s Thursday, and it’s another day for you to get on the river! By “you”, I must mean the SUP-foil crew, because that’s who’s charging this winter. If you’re going out, be cautious. There’s lots of debris in the water, and by “debris”, I do not mean the SUP-foil crew. Most of them have passed the flotsam stage. So, we’ll have westerlies today, nothin’ tomorrow, and middling easterlies on Saturday. Next chance for something comes on Tuesday, when easterlies are likely.

Today’s wind is driven by a weak low and front moving inland with high pressure building behind. That’s about as good as it gets this time of year. Models have been bouncing around quite a bit in the last twelve hours over wind strength and timing. As of this morning, they call for wind after 10am: gusty 23-27 from Stevenson to Rufus for a few hours (with rain, probably), followed by 18-23 in the west and gusty 26-29 (without rain) from Avery to Threemile. Maybe there will be less debris in the river out east? But wait, there’s more. It’s first Thursday, and that means there’s FREE FOOD at Amayah’s from 1pm to 4pm. What? Yes! River flow yesterday was 62-95kcfs, river temp is 48.5F, and high temp forecast is 47-50F, highest out east.

Friday will be light westerly to start and then light/variable. High temp: 46F. Dock start day! Saturday starts dry with easterlies at 25-30 at Iwash (Rooster) Rock and 20-25 at Stevenson. Rain moves in early afternoon, and the wind bounces around in the 20-30 range. High temp: 41F. It might snow in the central Gorge. But it also might not. Little happens Sunday and Monday. Easterlies return on Tuesday, probably, and probably enough for you to get on the river. Have a great day!

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Hood River Weather Forecast

Dry, mostly clear weather this morning quickly turns cloudy and adds rain. Temps will be in the mid to upper 40’s all day. Moderately strong westerlies. 99% chance of rainbows. Friday will be cloudy, then partly cloudy, then increasingly cloudy in the evening. Temps start in the mid-upper 30’s and rise to the mid 40’s. Light/variable wind. No rainbows. Saturday will be dry and frosty early with precip moving in early to mid afternoon. That could be snow. It might be rain. It will switch to rain overnight. Easterlies. 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.

Local-ish Events

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

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. The Tri Club is done for the season. 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

Regarding the trails in general: don’t ride in the mud. You’ll damage the trails. Don’t ride trails if it was below freezing the previous night and is above freezing when you want to ride. Ride gravel. Ride your trainer. Build trails. There are trail builders seeking extra hands on seven additional miles of trail on Whoopdee. Contact HRATS for more information. If you’re parking at Post Canyon, you will need a parking pass. Those can be purchased at many local shops or online.