Categories
Forecast

Wednesday: SO MUCH WEATHER!!!

The best snow forecast for Mt. Hood. The best wind forecast for the Gorge.

Thank you for using this forecast. Like it? Find it useful? Support it (and me!) by sending some cash my way. What’s it cost to support me and get the email version? Not $99 a year. Nope. Not $49. Just $19.99 or more gets you a year. People are added to this list on Thursday and Sunday. My day job is crisis mental health, and I don’t have time on other days. Thanks for your patience! Click below to contribute. Thank you!!

USPS
Venmo
Auto-renewing subscription. Easy. Awesome. Set and forget!

Thank you for contributing and keeping this forecast going! Not ready to subscribe? No problem – please share this forecast with all your friends too! I appreciate your support!


The Forecast

Mt. Hood Snow Forecast – 5000′
4a-8a 8a-12p 12p-4p 4p-8p 8p-4a
Wednesday
4000′->3000’/0′
Thursday
2500-3000′
Friday
3000′->4000′

Mt. Hood Snow Forecast

Mt. Hood is in for a wild ride starting on Friday. Snowy, stormy weather is followed by the dreaded Pineapple Express. After a couple feet of snow accumulation, inches and inches of rain arrive. Temps on the slopes eventually rise into the upper 40’s! Are we going to get enough snow and keep enough snow to get ski season going? I’m really not sure! And naturally, I’ll be on a meditation retreat starting Friday (don’t bother my housesitter, okay?), and won’t be around to comment…

Looking at Wednesday, we have a sunny day on the slopes. Clouds arrive sometime late in the day or in the evening. The free air freezing level (FAF) will be 4000′ for the 24 hour period. No precip. Wind: WNW 10-15 in the morning, W 10 in the afternoon, and WSW 15-20 after midnight.

Thursday starts cloudy. Light snow starts up mid to late morning. The effective snow level (based on 850mb/5000′ temps – it’ll probably be snowing in the Gorge) will be 3000′ for the 24 hour period. Just a trace to an inch of snow falls by Friday morning. Wind: WSW 10-20 in the morning, SW 10-20 in the evening, W 30 overnight, and SW 15-30 after midnight.

Let’s combine Friday and Saturday because the deterministic model is underplaying the snow and the ensembles are running higher with the totals. Just trust me, k? The snow level Friday starts around 2500′ and eventually rises to 4000′. On Saturday, the snow level will be 4000′ most of the day before rising to 5500′ in the evening and 6500′ after midnight. Starting Friday morning, the wind will be W 40 or more, with periods of NW 40+, which will result in full-on blizzard conditions. All this wind will enhance snowfall. Models suggest the snow will be more intense on Saturday than on Sunday. All told, ensembles are calling for 1.7” to 2.5” water equivalent, for about 18-30” of total accumulation. Lots, lots more will pile up on leeward slopes.

Late Saturday night, the snow switches to rain. Warm, wet weather continues all the way through Wednesday. The details of all this are unclear, but I can toss out some numbers for total precipitation. The Euro gives us 6.5-9” WE through next Wednesday. The GFS gives us 4-6”. Subtract 2” WE that falls as snow, and we have somewhere between 2” (which I think is really low) and 7” of rain that falls on top of the snow that accumulates. Whoa. It’s also probably worth noting, for those of you considering hiking for turns during the storm, that wind-loading will result in high avalanche danger on those tempting leeward slopes. Be careful out there. Also, check the resort websites before making plans – they’re likely to go into setup mode which will result in in-resort hiking being terminated. Ok. Lots of excitement coming up. Fingers crossed for enough snow that persists through the rain!  

Gorge Wind Forecast

Hi friends! Moderate easterlies stick around for a few more days, but they’ll be much less strong than they’ve been recently. Models hint at gusty, short-lived westerlies in the eastern Gorge Saturday and possibly Sunday and Monday, but the signal’s not strong or clear.

Wednesday starts with pressures of 30.16/30.24/20.26 for gradients of 0.08 and 0.02. Iwash (Rooster) was holding at 35-40 first thing this morning. Stevenson and Viento were at 10mph. Stevenson should pick up to 15-20 mid-morning before fading to 10-15 this afternoon. Rooster just fades as the day goes on and eventually lands around 10mph mid-afternoon. River flow yesterday was 92-144kcfs, river temp is 49F, and high temp forecast is 40F with sunshine in the windy zones.

Thursday brings easterlies at 20-25 mid-morning at both Iwash and Stevenson. Afternoon wind fades to 15 at both. High temp: 37F under cloudy sky. Friday starts calm most places. From mid-morning on, we’ll see gusty westerlies at 14-17mph from Stevenson to Rufus. High temp: 45F after a potentially snowy start. Very active weather arrives starting Friday. Lots of rain. With that is the potentially for some short-lived, frontally-driven westerlies over the weekend. That’s all for today.

 

FORECAST SPONSORED BY / AWESOME COMPANIES TO SUPPORT

Jones, Sauvie’s, Coast – On vacation ‘til summer unless otherwise noted

 

Hood River Weather Forecast

Nothing this morning sticks around all day. Temps will be in the low 30’s early and near 40 later. Easterlies. No rainbows. Thursday starts cloudy. Light snow or snain arrives in the afternoon and turns back to light snow overnight. Best guess: up to an inch at river level and up to 2” in outlying areas of Hood River. Light freezing rain is possible overnight. Temps start in the upper 20’s and rise to the mid 30’s. Easterlies. No rainbows. Friday will be cloudy with light snow or ice early and rain by mid-morning. Temps start in the upper 20’s and rise to the mid 40’s. Calm wind early. Moderate westerlies from mid-morning on. 95% 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.  

Local-ish Events

Please let me know of outdoor-related local-ish events. If you don’t tell me, I don’t know!

Amayah’s has their one-year anniversary party in Biggs. Also, every first Thursday, 1pm to 4pm, they are offering free meals to all. Yup. That’s right. Free Amayah’s once a month!

Regular weekly events:. NK Studio’s by-donation Tuesday morning yoga class is back. 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. The Tri Club is done for the season. 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.  

Cycling

Regarding the trails in general: don’t ride in the mud. You’ll damage the trails. Don’t ride trails if it was below freezing the previous night and is above freezing when you want to ride. Ride gravel. Ride your trainer. Build trails. There are trail builders seeking extra hands on seven additional miles of trail on Whoopdee. Contact HRATS for more information. If you’re parking at 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!

By Temira

Temira Lital is a recreation and travel weather forecaster based in Hood River, Oregon. Temira uses they/them pronouns. They're also a mental health counselor. Temira bikes, skis, windsurfs, paddles a SUP, swims in mountain lakes, and loves gardening. Most recently they've taken up SUP foiling. Temira is powered by La Croix, protein, and beets.