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The Forecast
| 4a-8a | 8a-12p | 12p-4p | 4p-8p | 8p-4a | |
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| Tuesday 6000′->10000′ |
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| Wednesday 10,000′->12,000′->7000′ |
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| Thursday 7000′->4000′?? |
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Mt. Hood Weather Forecast
Winter simply refuses to stop on Mt. Hood. We’ll see mostly dry weather for the next couple of days, and then we move back into a rather snowy patter. Models actually don’t agree on the snow level Thursday and Friday, but they’re more certain about snow for the weekend.
Tuesday, however, will be clear and sunny with warming temps. The free air freezing level (FAF) will be 6000′ this morning. By the afternoon, it rises to 10,000′ and stays there overnight. Temps on the slopes climb to the low 40’s. No precip. Wind: NW 25-30 in the morning, NW 20-25 in the afternoon, and SW 5-10 overnight.
Wednesday starts partially high overcast, turns clear, and then turns cloudy overnight. The FAF will be 10,000′ during the day, 12,000′ in the evening, and 7000′ after midnight. No precip. Wind: SW 5-10 in the morning building to SW 15-30 in the afternoon and overnight.
Thursday looks wet all day in the lowlands with uncertain precip in the mountains. My best guess right now is mixed precip at 5000′. Models suggest up to 1” water equivalent during the 24 hour period. That’s not going to give us much snow at 5000′, but areas above 6000′ will pick up 5-9”. Wind: SW 15-30 in the morning becoming WSW 30 in the afternoon and SW 15-25 overnight. Friday looks slightly cooler, but will still probably bring mixed precip during the day. Overnight, temps drop. If the forecast holds, the mountain could pick up 8-10” new snow overnight. Still a lot of uncertainty in my mind, if not in the models… Generally speaking, the weekend looks cool with snow showers down to the passes. Have a great week!
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
Looking at this morning’s conditions and forecast, we get a nice reminder of how unreliable long-range wind forecasts are! Today is shaping up to be a nice day on the river, especially if you can get out midday, and especially if you drive a bit east of Hood River, although the Corridor should join too. We start the day with gradients of .13 and .12 with wind generally in the 15-25 range (Viento is over-performing with a reading of 29). By mid-morning, westerlies pick up to 26-29 from Mosier to Rufus with 23-26 at Arlington and gusty 15-25 under the clouds west of Mosier. Models indicate the clouds will burn back, so the Viento to Hood River stretch should rise to 26-29 early afternoon. Stevenson’s the big question… let’s just go with gusty 18-23 form mid-afternoon on. Note: the wind will dramatically fall after 5pm everywhere, so plan around that. River flow is 161kcfs, river temp is 50F, and high temp forecast is 61F.
Wednesday’s wind won’t be nearly as strong, but it sure will be a warm day! Expect a calm start and calm wind or very light westerlies for much of the day. A front approaching from the west gives a late nudge; you’ll find gusty 14-17 from Stevenson to The Dalles. High temp: 74F. Thursday will be rainy all through the Gorge, all day long. In case you are wondering about wind, despite the rain, you’ll find gusty 13-16 east of Rufus all day. By “gusty”, I mean really, really gusty combined with drizzle. High temp: 58F. Active weather negatively impacts the wind on Friday. Models hint at building offshore high pressure Saturday, but they’re far from agreeing on this, so I”ll hold off on any weekend forecast for now. Have a great week!
Coast, Jones, Coast
Done until spring, unless there’s an obvious Coast or Sauvie’s or Jones day.
Hood River Weather Forecast
Cloudy sky this morning turns clear by afternoon. Temps will be in the upper 40’s early and low 60’s later. Strong westerlies. No rainbows. Wednesday will be partly cloudy and then clear. Temps will be in the low 40’s early and mid 70’s in the afternoon. Light wind most of the day. Moderate westerlies later. No rainbows. Thursday will be rainy all day. Temps will be in the upper 40’s early and upper 50’s later. Light to moderate westerlies. 99% chance of 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.
Cycling
Whoopdee has muddy areas that are too wet to ride. Syncline doubletrack is a stream, and it’s best if you don’t ride on it. Go up Maui instead. Hospital Hill: cows are out – no dogs allowed. Underwood: do not enter areas that are closed due to logging operations. Post: snow on the upper part of Eldorado. Much of Post is still too wet/snowy to ride. Do not ride in muddy areas or you will do major and sometimes permanent trail damage. If you do, you’ll force people to repair your mess rather than building new trails. Not cool! Ride gravel roads instead. Columbia Hills is rideable with lots of wildflowers.
Local Events
Please let me know about events. I often only hear about them if you folx let me know!
Big Winds and Oregon E-Bikes are having their 35th/5th anniversary sales Friday through Sunday. This is in-person purchases only, and there will be music, food, and other fun stuff happening in the parking lot. This weekend is the Cherry Festival in The Dalles (Friday-Saturday), and there’s a gravity-sport downhill race all three days at the Maryhill Loops Road.
Ferment’s Tuesday night 4-mile walk/run is 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. The Small Boat paddlers have a group paddle on Sunday at 11am at the Event Site. The Dirty Fingers Sunday Service rides happens at 9am – this week is the last one. They are fast-paced. If you are not, bring a buddy. The ride is followed by bike race viewing and beer drinking at the shop. Post and Pint happens Thursday evenings at 5:30 when Post is not too wet to ride.
Sprinter Van of the Week!
Click here for the Sprinter Van map of the world!!!
Have an awesome day!
