Ok all of you, a goal from me to you: I'll do a forecast every other day, at the least. Fair? Some days I just want to go back to sleep between 5:30 and 7:30. Today, however, I'm staying awake. Details on why below.
First off, it's SNOWING at Mt. Hood Meadows right now. This goes against everything I predicted, but I'm not going to argue with big white flakes falling on top of a below-average (but still fun) snowpack. As of 5 am, it was 35 at the base of the mountain, but it must be cold enough up above to keep the "r" word out of the description, for now at least.
It's hard to say what's going to happen later. All signs point to rain falling on the ski slopes as the day goes on, but all signs pointed to rain this morning. For now, I'll stick with the optimistic view and predict 1-4 inches of heavy snow today at Meadows. I'm not sure this is realistic, but I'm going with it.
Given that it's snowing today, it's hard to say what will happen tomorrow. Theoretically, the offshore low will shift northward and slide eastward right over the Columbia Gorge, Hood River and Mt. Hood. This means we'll get a heavy shot of precipitation. The form of the precipitation worries me. I'm calling rain on the hill tomorrow until the low passes. Behind the low is cold, Alaskan air. This will drop snow levels significantly. Unfortunately, snow levels won't drop until the bulk of the precipitation has passed. Still... that does leave us in a snow-shower pattern for the next couple of days (on the hill, of course).
It's worth pointing out that upper flow is straight out of the south right now. This could cause some thundershowers later today. That in itself might be worth taking your skis or snowboard up to the hill. If you haven't seen a thunder/lightning snow when it's snowing, you're missing out. it's a very rare and very cool sight!
Here's a funny thing... I completely forgot to mention the windsurfing and kiteboarding. It's absolutely RIPPING windy right now. The gradient is .23, not the biggest of the winter, but still plenty big. That's enough gradient for a 3.2 at Stevenson (37mph) or Rooster (reading 24, probably blowing 50). This will fade as the day goes on, giving us lighter winds tomorrow. Tuesday looks like a blasting windy westerly day out in the desert. Wind consistency will be affected by rain shower, but windsurfing at Arlington and Threemile is a distinct possibility midday Tuesday. If you're going skiing that day, expect strong winds on the slopes.
Have a great day, and pray for snow!
----------
You are, of course, at the best place for windsurfing, kiteboarding, skiing, snowboarding, telemark skiing and Columbia Gorge / Hood River information.
Print | posted @ Sunday, February 22, 2009 5:39 AM