Good morning sailors!
It's the perfect morning for a kiteboarding downwinder from Stevenson to Home Valley! If you're planning on going, go now, as winds will fade later. A ridge of high pressure is crawling from west of us to east of us today. As the ridge nears, windspeeds will climb for a bit, and then fade quickly, likely leaving easterly sailors swimming.
With the approach of a weak cold front, flow turns onshore again tomorrow. Best winds will be in the morning, as the front is expected to pass early. Luck on our side brings 24-28, but I don't think tomorrow is our lucky day. A more likely scenario is 21-24 everywhere east of Hood River.
Tuesday sends a strong front our way, dumping rain on our heads and shifting winds to the east. Look for shortlived bursts of gusty 24-28 east of The Dalles.
Westerly upper level flow on both Monday and Tuesday will send properly calibrated winds rushing down The Wall section of the river. I'm sure Dana, Dave, Johnny or Laura will be out there first (first one to call with an onsite report gets cookies?), to let us know the conditions!
Okay happy campers. Have a fantastic day - I'm really (I swear I am) going for a bike ride today.
Oh, one last thing. It's officially a La Nina year. "Cold and wet" describes conditions for the next six months (as if that's different from usual), but I do believe La Nina brings something important: wind. "Wet" means fronts, and fronts mean wind. Fronts also mean NO INVERSION. And as much as I like sailing 40 knot east winds, I dislike the accompanying inversion. If La Nina sticks around, we'll have epic snowpack and cool conditions (in Portland, anyway) next summer, setting up awesome river current and super-strong temperature gradients. Now, does that get you excited for next summer, or what?!
I'll see you this evening, and more importantly, I'll see you on the water tomorrow!
Temira
Print | posted @ Sunday, October 14, 2007 9:02 AM