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Come by Riverside Grill, Cebu Lounge and the Best Western Hood River Inn over the holidays. Excellent multi-day Meadows ski packages, or affordable guest rooms (it’s off-season, and prices are totally reasonable) — plus heated outdoor pool, spas, sauna. Great bands at Cebu, plus New Year’s Eve with Lolo Motion. And don’t forget Cebu’s awesome Happy Hours from 4-6 pm, Monday through Friday and $12 prime rib on Tuesday nights (except 12/31) Happy Holidays!
Random Morning Thoughts
Sometimes it’s no fun being the boss.
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Mt. Hood Snow Forecast
As I started typing this forecast this morning, I wanted to get up and eat some chocolate. Noodle kugel. Mac n’ cheese. Some comfort food. Because there’s too much riding on the weather taking a turn for the better, and it just isn’t happening. Or that’s what I thought at 5am. At 7:30am, it started snowing on Mt. Hood. So… for once I’m glad to be wrong about the weather!
This morning is cloudy on Mt. Hood, but we’re going to see some sprinkles SNOW!!! today before the weather (thank goodness) dries out for tonight’s slopeside parties. We’ll see .1-.2” water value (WV) this morning, so it looks like we might just get an inch or two. The snow level will be 6000′ early, 5500′ early afternoon, and 7000′ in the evening. Wind will be W 25 early, W 30 midday and NW 20 in the evening.
New Year’s Day looks dry and partly cloudy, becoming cloudy overnight. The free air freezing level (FAF) will be 8000′ all day. Wind will be NNW 15 early, becoming W 5-10 midday and SW 10 in the evening. Guess I could have just said “light and variable”, right?
Thursday. Oh Thursday. Why can’t you be something different than you are? Thursday starts off cloudy, but rain moves in around 7pm. The snow level will be 9000′ in the morning, 7000′ in the afternoon and overnight, not dropping until early Friday morning. Today’s forecast is better than yesterday’s, when I saw 2” of rain. Now I just see .6” rain, followed by maybe an inch of snow. Wind will be W 20 early, WSW 30 in the afternoon, and W 40 overnight.
Friday morning sees a few flurries, followed by clear sky as the snow level crashes to 5000′ by 4am and 2000 or less by 7am. The precip will pretty much be done by the time the snow level drops. We may get lucky and see an inch of snow before the precip dissipates, but it’s unlikely. Wind Friday will be W 50 early, becoming more northerly and fading during the day.
The weekend looks dry.
Gorge Weather
Well, wtf? Where did that rain come from yesterday? I didn’t predict rain, and then I went and got myself caught in it during a bike ride. Shows you how much good it does to be the weather forecaster!
It IS going to sprinkle this morning in the Gorge, but it should become partly cloudy this afternoon. We’ll see temps in the low 40’s this morning and mid to upper 40’s in the afternoon. Tomorrow starts out near freezing, rising to the mid-40’s in the afternoon. No precip. Thursday starts out below freezing, rising to the mid-40’s in the afternoon with rain overnight.
In the long-term models for the PNW, there’s another cold snap starting Monday, and then warm, wet air moves over the top of the stuck cold air. That’s a classic snow/ice setup for the Gorge, so we’ll have to keep an eye on what the models say for early next week.
Gorge Wind Forecast
We’ll see westerlies at 13-15 this morning in the western Gorge, picking up to 15-18 east of Hood River this afternoon as a cold front swings through. Tomorrow starts off light and then goes to E 15-18. Thursday brings light west wind, likely picking up late in the day.
Road and Mountain Biking
I made the mistake of going to Post Canyon yesterday, thinking the cloud cover would have kept the trails frozen. Nope. Seven Streams is a disaster, and Spaghetti has sections of mud. However, you could ride 12 Bridges (the lower section) then ride up Post Canyon Road to the top of Mitchell Ridge, which is in fine shape.
Also, a reminder: Whoopdee is closed for the season due to freeze-thaw conditions and severe tread damage being caused by bikes.
Sandy Ridge was still epic as of yesterday, according to reports.
For you road bikers, there’s a group ride meeting at Petersburg School in The Dalles at 10am on New Year’s Day.
The Clymb: free membership. Cheap gear. Temira approves. Click to join.
Events – email me if I’ve missed any outdoor-related events
New Year’s Eve is happening tonight, in case you didn’t know. There is no $12 prime rib at Cebu tonight. Woe is me. I had a dream last night that I was eating prime rib. For you joggers and runners out there, head on over to Facebook and join the Hood River Running Club, a new FB group for runners. And joggers. Like me.
Have an awesome day today!
Temira
