Tuesday. 12/3. Mt. Hood sun n’ snow. Gorge weather. Frozen waterfalls. They make me very happy. So does the opportunity to wear my fur coat.

It’s winter now, and that means it’s time for the snow forecast!

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Random Morning Thoughts

I think I fell asleep in a moving car last night. That never happens. No, I was not driving.

Mt. Hood Snow Forecast – 5000′
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday

Mt. Hood Snow Forecast

It’s not the snow forecast that’s worthy of discussion today. It’s the quality of yesterday’s snow. It was fluffy and fun, and I had a lovely time at work. The corduroy on the hills should be great today. Cold. Dry. Packed powder. Nice. Meadows is opening Mt. Hood Express today.

Expect decreasing snow flurries and increasing sunbreaks today with the freezing level at the surface. T freezing level will be at the surface for the next several days, so let’s just go with that assumption for the whole forecast. The temp will drop into the low teens at 5000′ today. The wind will pick up out of the ENE to 30mph this afternoon.

Tomorrow looks clear and cold with temps in the single digits and ENE wind at 20-30mph.

Thursday sees high clouds move in with afternoon light snow flurries possible. Temps will be in the single digits to low teens with N wind early becoming NW at 10mph. Next chance of snow accumulation is Friday, with a few inches in the forecast. If models for next Sunday/Monday don’t change, things could get wild and crazy on the mountain again.

Plain Old Local Weather

We’re about to slide into an extended period of very cold weather in the Gorge. We’d be below freezing already, but cloud cover protected us last night, like a fuzzy, fluffy blanket. This morning’s 34 degree reading is the warmest we’ll see for the next week or so, so enjoy that “3” in front of the second digit while you can. For the rest of the week, expect temps to be in the 20’s or less, with east wind at 30+ in the western Gorge. Yes, the waterfalls will freeze. Yes, the wind chill will be below zero. There’s a good chance we’ll see some snow flurries or minor accumulation on Friday… kinda far out to be predicting.

And now that I’ve said Friday is a long ways out, let’s talk about Monday and Tuesday, because speculation is fun. Bitter cold continental air remains entrenched in the Gorge through early next week, with high pressure in the desert. Long-range models predict two warm, wet offshore lows swinging inland Monday and Tuesday, packing significant moisture. Models also predict no movement in the cold high pressure east of the Gorge. Low pressure offshore, high pressure in the desert, offshore wind pulling cold air into the Gorge, warm, wet weather coming over the top. This is not good.

If the predictions of the models hold, we here in the Gorge are fucked. Two inches of moisture coming in over the top of sub-freezing air with no hope of pressure gradients reversing is a recipe for a nightmare of an ice storm.

Gorge Wind Forecast

Don’t be silly. The only thing the easterlies will be good for this week is distributing the water from the waterfalls into beautiful ice sculptures.

Road and Mountain Biking

Your bike trainer is calling you, unless your name is Manny, in which case you’re probably out riding already. Just a reminder: They don’t gravel the Petersburg Loop in The Dalles.