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The Forecast
| Your favorite beach | Dawn Patrol |
9am- 11:30a |
11:30a- 3pm |
3pm- dusk |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rooster Rock | LTV | E5-10 | E15-20 | LTW | |
| Steven’s Locks | E5 | E10-15 | E15-20 | W10-13? | |
| Swell-Hood River | E5 | E5 | E5 | LTW? | |
| Lyle to Doug’s | LTV | calm | LTE | E5+ | |
| Rufus, etc. | LTV | calm | LTE | E5+ | |
| Roosevelt & Arlington | LTV | calm | LTE | E5+ | |
Gorge Wind Forecast
It’s been a tricky summer of forecasting so far with all these low pressure systems interfering with our standard setup. Today, however, is not a tricky day for wind forecasting. It’ll be mostly calm most of the day with a bit of easterly flow. On Thursday, depending on thunderstorm coverage and instability, we could see late afternoon wind. Friday’s still looking pretty windy, but there’s quite a bit of range in how windy it will be. Saturday: windy. Sunday: probably just enough. 4/5 is a good stretch!
Wednesday starts out perfectly clear and calm with the exception of easterlies at 10-15 at Viento. That’s despite very weak pressure gradients: 29.94/29.95/29.97 for just 0.01E from Portland to The Dalles. Expect easterlies to peak at 15-20 mid-morning near Viento and Stevenson and spread to Rooster for a couple hours too. They then drop quickly and turn calm by mid-afternoon. There’s some hint of westerlies at 10-13 near Stevenson and Viento this evening thanks to thermals. That’s a big “maybe”, and models do not agree on this. River flow readings are 147-167kcfs, river temp is 70F, and high temp forecast is 101F.
Models are hinting at upper teens on Thursday afternoon after a calm start, but atmospheric instability could shut things down. Cross your fingers for wind, because it’ll be really hot and muggy and the river will feel really good. Here’s the deets of the forecast: calm wind through early afternoon. 11-14 between 2pm and 5pm from Stevenson to Hood River. 16-19 is possible in the evening (for the Executive Session, right?) for that same stretch of the Columbia, but that’s also when instability and thunder chances will be at their height. Models give a 40-50% chance of wind gusts over 23mph. Fingers crossed! High temp: 90-100F depending on clouds. Very muggy.
Atmospheric instability may still be a problem on Friday, but it does look windy. That said, there’s a LOT of range in how windy it could be. The 12k operational GFS gives a very robust forecast of 21-24 Dawn Patrol, 27-31 midday, and a shot at 30-33 for some areas in the afternoon. Strongest wind will be west of Rufus, but Rufus should be in the mid 20’s at least. We will have to wait until tomorrow to see if there’s more agreement in the models; the vast majority of the ensemble members are not as assertive with wind speeds as the forecast above. Still, we’ll see at least mid 20’s averages and likely more. High temp: blissfully less at 87F for Hood River. Much hotter in the desert.
Our current forecast for the weekend from the operational GFS is 26-30 for Saturday and 17-20 for Sunday. The ensembles are less for Saturday and more for Sunday giving us low to mid 20’s both days. In essence: windy enough! Take a rest day today if you can, and plan for a solid stretch of wind!
Jones, Sauvie’s, Coast
Coast forecast (north/central/south, waves). Swell forecast provided by NWS. Wind direction northerly unless otherwise noted. Wednesday: 15-20/15-20/15-20, W swell 4′ at 9 seconds. Thursday: LTNW/LTNW/N10-15, W 3′ @ 9. Friday: LTW/LTW/N20-25, W 4′ @ 9. Jones Wednesday: 8-11. Thursday: 21-24. Friday: 21-24. Sauvie’s Wednesday: 16-19. Thursday: 13-16. Friday: 9-12.
Mt. Hood Snow Forecast – On vacation until next fall
Hood River Weather Forecast
Clear sky this morning may pick up some convective clouds this afternoon. Temps will be in the low 60’s early and near 100 later. Muggy. Light easterlies. No rainbows. Thursday will have convective clouds and a chance of thunder. Temps will be in the low-mid 70’s early (record-setting) and 90-100 later. Calm wind in the morning. Moderate westerlies later. 1% chance of rainbows. Friday will have high clouds. Temps start in the upper 60’s to low 70’s and end in the upper 80’s. Strong westerlies. 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! The Wasco County Fair is this week. So is the Skamania County Fair. There’s a 5k race at the Skamania County Fair if you want to get your race on! The Post Canyon 50k Ultra-marathon is Saturday. 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 at 6pm on Thursday at the Hatchery. Post and Pint happens Thursday evenings at 5:30. The women’s Post-and-Pinot ride is Wednesday evening at 5:30.
Cycling
As of Monday, 8/17, the following trails are closed due to fire danger: Hospital Hill, Underwood, Whoopdee, and andy lands Owned or Managed by American Forest Management, Broughton Lumber Company, DGS Timber, Green Diamond, Kreps Ranch, Kreps Family LLC, Lupine Forest, Manulife Forest Management, Twin Creeks Timber, and Western Pacific Timber, LLC in Klickitat, Skamania, Stevens, Yakima, Hood River and Wasco counties.
Other news: some nice Hood River folks went and cleared the Smith Creek trail by St. Helens. That loop is now open. As a matter of fact, I’m not sure of anything being closed. No report yet on Boulder Lakes or Gunsight, but I’m sure someone will email me after changing this. Caveats: the road connecting Plains of Abraham to Smith Creek closes at noon Monday-Friday and will not be open to bikers during that time. Courtney Road (the road that goes up above Syncline) is closed until October. Do not attempt to use it to access trails. If you’re riding Post Canyon, you will need a parking pass. Those can be purchased at many local shops or online.
Sprinter Van of the Week!
Click here for the Sprinter Van map of the world!!!
Have an awesome day!
