This is your winter storm forecast. I'm not mentioning wind, because it's too cold for even Laura Green to windsurf. If Laura won't go, neither will you. She's a sanity barometer. You know, even Eddie wouldn't go...
The chilly arctic air that's taken up residence in the Gorge is about to cause a lot of trouble for us, or a lot of fun, depending on your take. An upper level low is sitting off the coast of BC now, picking up moisture. It move down the coast and eastward tomorrow, pummeling Portland with a mix of rain/snow/sleet/freezing rain/snow, and burying Hood River under another 4-8 inches of snow starting tomorrow morning (I'm guessing we'll see more, rather than less).
Hood River sledding hills are already open and double-black diamond fast. They'll be open for the next week at least, as temperatures aren't forecast to climb above freezing.
The Wednesday/Thursday storm brings 10-16 inches to the mountains. Please pick me up if you see me hitching to Meadows on Thursday morning.
Sunday is starting to look problematic. A wetter system swings over the top of the cold air, dropping more snow on the Gorge. It's really too far out to guess, but I'll guess anyway. 6-12 inches in the Gorge is my gut feeling. More on the mountain. Julia over at NOAA says the models are speeding up this storm. It may hit on Saturday... we'll have to wait and see. Honestly, I'm hoping for Sunday night, because I want all the Meadows powder to myself!!!!
(Yeah, I'm selfish)
FYI, Meadows is changing how they report new snow. Instead of reporting a 24 hour and 12 hour number, they will be reporting a 24 hour and "since 5am" number. If you check the website for your information, please read the comment boxes, where I'll write the "new snow since yesterday's close" number. I'll report the same number on the snow phone.
See you guys at 7th Street, Binn's Hill, Meadows, or huddled around a fire!
Have a great day!
Print | posted @ Tuesday, December 16, 2008 6:19 AM