Wednesday: bye sun. hello clouds. hello snow, soon.

Meet Temira,
your Gorge and Mt. Hood forecaster

For almost 30 years, Temira (they/them) has been making the most of what the Gorge has to offer: riding river swell on a foil or windsurf board, carving fresh lines through the snow, and cycling all the gravel and pavement and trails. This is Temira’s playground, their gym… their life’s work.

That’s why in 2006, Temira took it upon themselves to create the most accurate, hyper-local weather forecasts possible. Inaccurate predictions had left too many fellow adventurers caught off-guard and in harm’s way. Temira was determined to change that. Today, Temira’s forecasts have become an essential resource for thousands of skiers, snowboarders, wind sports enthusiasts and travelers through the Gorge. With their guidance, you can plan ahead, time your sessions perfectly, and stay safer on the water, snow, and trails.

But the story doesn’t end there. Temira also authors the TATAS Facebook page – the Gorge’s premier source for microclimate forecasts. When winter storms, extreme heat, or other hazardous conditions (avalanches on SR-14 and I-84, for example!) threaten, this community lifeline becomes a vital resource for locals and visitors alike, helping to keep everyone safe.

Mt. Hood Snow Forecast

Good morning skiers and snowboarders! Yesterday was a gorgeous day on the mountain. Sure, I spent most of it working on my computer in the lodge, but I got some laps in too. Work from the lodge if you can! Also, Meadows has daycare if that helps. Speaking of helping, the more time you spend at altitude, the more your body adjusts – yet another argument for spending an occasional day working in a ski resort lodge (obviously I’m obsessed). Okay, enough of that. Weather-wise, we fall out of the dry pattern back into a snowy pattern starting late tonight. Models still have quite a bit of range in the outcomes, so making a precise prediction (even on the P-type!) isn’t really possible. As of this morning, the 25th to 75th percentile range for snow for Mt. Hood through Monday was 13-22”. That all sounds good to me!

Wednesday starts with high clouds. Clouds increase during the day, although there’s some indication of a period of sunshine in the afternoon. Not sure I buy that! Light snowfall starts up this evening and continues overnight with just a trace of snow. The free air freezing level starts around 8000′ and falls to 6500′ in the afternoon. When the precip arrives, the snow level will be around 4000′. Wind: SW 15-20 all day and all night. Snow surface today will be hardpack, but there are definitely scoured areas out there too. I found it edgeable yesterday, but then again, my skis are brand new and sharp (first new skis in 10 years!).

Moving on to Thursday… Light snow (probably all snow at 5000′) continues. The snow level will be about 4000′ early, 5000′ in the afternoon, and 4000′ after midnight. As of this morning, it looks like we’ll see about 0.1” water equivalent (WE) during the day for an inch of snow. Overnight: double that, for 1-2” additional wet, dense snow at 5000′. Wind: S 10-15 in the morning, WSW 25-30 in the afternoon, and SW 30-35 overnight.

Starting Friday, things are rather unclear. With the path of an incoming low pressure system as yet to be determined, temps at 5000′, precipitation amounts, and wind are also up in the air (pun intended). Generally speaking, it looks like a period of mixed precip is possible Friday afternoon followed by snow Saturday and Sunday. Models are all over the place on precipitation amounts; the Euro is running much wetter than the GFS. My tendency would be to go with the higher end snow amounts. High end or low end, it does look like we’ll pick up enough snow by Monday to turn conditions back to packed powder. Starting in the middle of next week, models are all in on warmer weather. Details: TBD. Have a great day on the slopes today!

Gorge Wind Forecast

Hi friends! Easterlies continue for at least the next three days. The next chance of westerlies is Monday-ish, but there’s far from a clear signal about that in the models. Wednesday started with pressures of 30.20/30.34 for E 0.14 PDX-DLS. At 6:30am, Iwash (Rooster) was reading 48mph, Stevenson 28mph, and Viento 17mph (thanks, iWind/iKite for the readings). The wind dips a bit midday before surging in the evening. Midday: 35-40 at Iwash and 25ish at Stevenson. Late afternoon into the evening: 45ish at Iwash and 30-35 at Stevenson. River flow over the last 24 hours was 89-162kcfs, river temp is 46.94F. High temp: 40F under increasingly cloudy sky.

Light snow, snain, or drizzly is forecast along with Thursday’s easterlies. The wind starts with 35-40mph at Iwash and slowly fades to 25mph. Stevenson starts with 25mph and slowly fades to a little less than 20mph. High temp: 39F. Friday will be rainy. Easterlies start at 10mph at Iwash and slowly build to 20-25mph. Stevenson starts with 15mph and slowly builds to 25-30mph. Looking at the weekend: there’s really too much spread in the models to try and pin down wind speeds. Heck, I probably shouldn’t have tried to pin things down for Thursday and Friday; there’s a lot of models spread there too, and the forecast is likely to change. Be safe out there on the river today!

Very basic Hood River weather forecast

Don’t plan your life around this. You really should read Temira’s Awesome Travel Advisory Service on Facebook for a detailed weather forecast.

Nothing all day. Temps start in the low-mid 30s and rise to… never mind. They’ll barely rise. Easterlies.0% chance of rainbows.

Thursday will be Nothing with light snow, snain, or rain. Temps start in the low-mid 30s and rise to the mid or upper 30s. Light easterlies.2% chance of rainbows.

Friday will be rainy. Temps start in the mid 30s and rise to the upper 30s. Light easterlies. 1% chance of rainbows.

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Cycling Update

Trails have been a mix of frozen, hoar-frost (unrideable), and freeze-thaw. When it’s wet and muddy, or when there are freeze-thaw conditions, please don’t ride, or you’ll do significant trail damage. Then peeps have to fix your mess rather than building new trails. Nobody wants that! Everyone wants new trails. Be a good steward, and pick a different activity

Remember: E-bikes are not allowed on USFS non-moto trails. They are allowed on moto trails.