Random Morning Thoughts
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Tomorrow’s forecast status: 
Thank you Doppio for today’s (and tomorrow’s) forecasts!
And thank you all for using this forecast!
Have a wonderful day!
Gorge Wind
We’re starting off with a nice breeze (at my Doppio at 5:30am, where I was sitting because my internet is down) and nice gradients, .13 (pdx-dls) and .04 (dls-psc). We’ll see westerlies at 21-24 this morning, rising to 23-26 midday and in the afternoon. The wind will be strongest from Swell to Mosier this morning and from Stevenson out to Rufus this afternoon. With no weather systems, disturbances, ULL’s, shortwaves, or thunderstorms in the picture, we should see relatively steady wind today.
Tomorrow starts with 10-13, maybe a touch more, picking up just a bit midday near Hood River and then going to gusty 17-20 in the afternoon. Strongest wind tomorrow will be near HR in the morning and from Stevenson to The Dalles in the afternoon, with a good chance of the wind pooping out near Hood River late in the morning. All the hedging tomorrow comes from the possibility of thunderstorms arising out of tropical moisture and a weak afternoon weather system, and that does tend to make the wind less reliable from Swell to Mosier.
Friday starts with 15-18ish, rising to 21-24ish in the afternoon, strongest near Hood River. At this point (and you know how unreliable those long-range models can be), the weekend looks like upper teens to low twenties out of the west.
Out on the coast, you will see the following over the next three days (north/central/south). 15-20/20-25/30, W 6@7. Tomorrow: 20-25/25/30, NW 5@6. Friday: 15-20/25-30/30-40, NW 7@7.
| Your favorite beach | Dawn Patrol |
9am- 11:30a |
11:30a- 3pm |
3pm- dusk |
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rooster’s Rocks | nice | breeze | to cool | your… knees |
|
| Steven’s Locks | 10-15 | 15-18 | 20-23 | 20-23 | |
| Hatchery/White Salmon Sandbar (minus a few for Hood River) | 20-23 | 23-26 | 23-26 | gusty 20-23 |
|
| Doug’s, etc. | 13-16 | 17-21 | 23-26 | 23-26 | |
| Rufus, etc. | 13-16 | 13-16 | 21-24 | 23-26 | |
| Roosevelt, etc. | 5-10 | 10-14 | 15-18 | 15-18 | |
| Temira’s sail: 35-40: 2.9 / 30-35: 3.2 / 26-30: 3.5 23-26: 4.0 / 20-23: 4.5 less than 20: something bigger! |
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| Tonia’s kite: 35-40: 4m / 30-35: 4-6m / 26-30: 5-7m 23-26: 7-9m / 20-23: 8-10 / 15-20: 10-12 / 10-15: 13-15. |
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Advertising Worth Reading
Hood River U-Pick Organic Farm
Hood River U-Pick Organic is a certified organic family farm located at 4320 Royal Anne Drive. Wind not blowing? Trails too dusty? Maybe you just want to do something fun and relaxing for you (and the kids too!). Come on up and pick Dahlias, roses, raspberries, kale, heirloom tomatoes, basil and garlic. Other seasons have other fantastic organic crops. Self-Serve: cash and checks.
Gorge Weather
Last night’s sunset was another lovely one. We have less chance of a colorful sunset tonight, as thunderstorms are less likely, but the loveliness returns tomorrow. Today looks pretty gosh-darn sunny, with temps in the upper 80’s this afternoon. We’ll start with low 60’s tomorrow and end with highs in the humid upper 80’s with a chance of thunderstorms. Friday starts out in the low 60’s with a colorful sunrise and ends up in the mid 80’s.
White Sprinter Van of the Day (paying a bridge toll with cash)
Road and Mountain Biking
This morning is an exciting morning in my world. I’m on the Hood River County Recreation Trails committee, and we’re doing a walkthrough of the proposed new one-way downhill on Seven Streams. This trail is intended to address the safety concerns raised by having hikers, uphill bikers, shuttlers, kids, runners, and equestrians all jammed onto poor little Seven Streams. Imagine pure radness coming from Family Man down to Seven Streams staging area, and imagine no more downhill riders (except little kids and rank beginners) on the existing trail. So, anyway, that’s the reason this forecast was so early: 7am walkthrough.
Your trails will be dusty and hot today, but having mountain biking in your backyard is awesome, so hush your whining and go ride! If you’re road biking, get out early for the least heat and least wind.
The Clymb: free membership. Cheap gear.
Temira approves. Click to join.
River Levels / Cheezburger update
The White Salmon is at 2.25′. Cheezburger’s getting eaten by Husum Falls a lot! The John Day dam is putting out 151-208kcfs and The Dalles dam is reading 176kcfs. Columbia river temp is 68.9 degrees at The Dalles Dam.
Events – email me if I’ve missed any outdoor-related events
In exciting news, the Adventure Park at Mt. Hood Skibowl is excited to announce the opening of the brand new “Tree Top Action Zone.” This features the new five story “Tarzan Freefall Swing” and the six story “Tarzan Plunge”. Both attractions are accessed via a series of balance bridges that increase in difficulty the higher you go. Sounds like a fun way to spend a day, if you ask me.
There’s a ton going on this evening if you’d like to do something outdoorsy. There’s an all-levels women’s mountain bike ride out of Dirty Fingers. If you have kids, take them up to Post Canyon’s Family Man, off Riorden Hill Road, for family-friendly mountain biking, and there’s Tai Chi at Wilson Park. All three of those events are at 5:30.
At 6pm in Stevenson, the Columbia Gorge Running Club has a track workout, and the Hood River Running Club has one at Hood River High at 6:15. If it’s too hot outside for you, there’s ping pong at the Hood River Armory at 6:30 tonight.
Coming up later this week, it’s First Friday in Hood River, and on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, there’s one-design sailboat races in Cascade Locks and the Trout Lake Fair. Finally, I told you yesterday that the BOTG blowout race had been moved to this weekend. Well, now it’s next Sunday, the 10th.
Have an awesome day today!
Temira
