Tuesday: half a foot of new. more on the way!

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′
Tuesday 1500′->2500′->1000′
Wednesday 1500′
Thursday 1000′->4000′

Mt. Hood Snow Forecast

Remember how we talked yesterday about the difficulty in predicting the amount of snow for that 24 hour period? Well, we did all right in accumulation. There’s 6” of new snow on the slopes this morning, and temps are at or below 20F. Should be good! The mountain will pick up additional difficult-to-predict snowfall over the next couple of days. Models then hint at mostly dry weather on Thursday followed by the possibility of light rain on Friday. That said… models are actually all over the place on how much rain will fall (0.0” to 0.75”) in that Thursday-Friday period, so we don’t actually have a reliable forecast. Yet. Models suggest warmer weather for Saturday and a return to snowfall sometime Sunday.

Tuesday will just be snowy. The snow level will be 1500′ in the morning, 2500′ in the afternoon, and will fall back to 1500′ overnight. About 0.4” water equivalent (WE) is forecast during the day. That’s 4-5” light* snow. Overnight, another 0.3” light* snow is forecast. The star is important here – the atmosphere is quite unstable, and that’s likely to turn your powder into graupel, which is a much different snow surface. Wind today: W 35-40 this morning, SW 20-35 this afternoon, and SW 15-20 this evening.

Wednesday will be snowy. The snow level will be 1500′ for the period. About 0.5” WE is forecast during the day for 4-6” new snow. An inch or two falls in the evening. Wind: SW 15-25 in the morning, W 15-20 in the afternoon, and WNW 15-25 overnight.

We then move into a period of high uncertainty. Models can’t seem to decide whether we’re dry or wet on Thursday and Friday. It does look like the weather will warm enough to transition the precipitation to rain by Friday afternoon. Models hint at dry weather Saturday and snowfall on Sunday. Before I sign off… it’s worth noting that snowfall on Tuesday and Wednesday will have an instability component. That means it’ll be difficult to be precise about exactly how much snow will fall. Keep that in mind as you review the predictions above. Enjoy the snowy weather!

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Gorge Wind Forecast

Progressive and unstable weather for the next couple of days keeps the wind gusty and reactive. Models hint at light/variable wind on Thursday and Friday. For Tuesday, we’ll have westerlies in the 5-15 range all through the Gorge to start the day. To escape the rain, you’ll need to head far east. The wind picks up to gusty, rainy 11-14 in the western Gorge this afternoon with gusty 21-26 from Avery to Arlington. River flow yesterday was 123-146kcfs, river temp is 47F, and high temp forecast is 52F. Wednesday starts light, variable, and drizzly in Hood River. After 2pm, the wind picks up to gusty 14-17-+ from Mosier to Rufus (with the potential for instability and moderate rain). After 5pm, you may find (along with the showers) gusty 21-25 from The Dalles to Threemile. High temp: 51F. Thursday starts light/variable in the west with 11-14 from Avery to Arlington. Afternoon: light/variable. Thursday’s high temp forecast is 54F. As of this morning, models suggest light/variable wind on Friday, but that could change depending on which model scenario wind. There’s a chance of stronger wind on the weekend.

Jones, Sauvie Island, Coast – Done for the Season

Hood River Weather Forecast

Drizzly weather this morning adds the potential for showers and hail this afternoon. Temps will be in the upper 30’s early and low 50’s later. Light westerlies this morning. Moderate later. 98% chance of rainbows. Wednesday will be drizzly in the morning with a shot at moderate rain, heavy showers, and hail in the afternoon. Temps start in the mid 30’s and rise to the low 50’s. Light/variable wind early. Moderate westerlies in the afternoon. 98% chance of rainbows. Thursday will be high overcast and probably dry. Temps start in the mid 30’s and rise to the mid 50’s. Light and variable wind. 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!
Dirty Fingers has the Sunday Service rides (gravel/mixed surface) weekly for a while. April 15th at 10am is the “Run with the Wild 5k” fun run to support the Wildland Firefighter Foundation.

Regular weekly events: NK Studios in Bingen has a donation-based yoga class at 7:30am every Tuesday. 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. 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.

Regular bike rides (thanks to the Hood River Area Trail Stewards for collecting). Tuesday is Mountain View’s ride. Meet at 5:45pm on Post Canyon Drive where the pavement ends. Wednesday is the Evo/Kickstand all-ability, no-drop Post Canyon ride. 5:30 from the shop or join along the way. All abilities welcome. Thursday is Mountain View’s women’s ride. 5:30pm, Seven Streams Trailhead. No drop. Thursday is also the Dirty Fingers Post and Pint. 5:30 from the shop or later at Family Man. This is hardcore, race-pace. Saturday morning is the Mountain View road/gravel ride. Two hours. 12-14mph average speed. Starting May 6th, Oregon Ebikes has the women’s ride at 8:30am. Meet at Seven Streams parking lot for a 1.5 to 2 hour ride.

Cycling

Cows are in on Hospital Hill. That means dogs are no longer allowed. Even if your dog is cool. Even if you’re a local. Even if … you get the picture! Hospital Hill is private land. Please respect the wishes of the landowners – they’re generous enough to let folks use that land, and dogs have been shot there before. My understanding is that Post Canyon is snow-free to the top of Borderline. IT’s been raining on and off. If it rained more than 0.1”, it’s likely to be slick and muddy. Please don’t ride muddy trails, or you’ll do permanent damage. With rain often stopping on the west side of Hood River, you may have better luck at Whoopdee or Syncline or Hospital Hill (which is full of ticks and poison oak). Consider gravel riding! If you’re parking at Post Canyon, you will need a parking pass. Those can be purchased at many local shops or online.