The magnitude of today's wind on Mt. Hood caught everyone by surprise. As of last night, NOAA was only predicting gusts into the low 40's, but we actually saw gusts near 90 at Timberline today. Mt. Hood Meadows was *only* reporting winds gusting into the 70's (enough to shut down the entire mountain, except for a few intrepid hikers).
I, being a slacker, didn't bother to look at the models or read the forecast discussion or anything else not involving work, and so missed predicting the whole mess.
Tomorrow (that's Friday) looks like a good day on the mountain. Anything in the lee of the wind will be excellent, and anything wind-exposed is going to be scoured like a radish carved into a flower by a master chef. It will be interesting to see if any of the lifts sustained damage in the storm. Anyway, I'm giving it a tentative two-thumbs-up forecast for skiing (for which midweek diehards are going to kill me). Sorry everyone... Mt. Hood Meadows was closed on Thursday, so it's going to be crowded Friday. Get there early!
In a bizarre weather twist, we're going to see some cold Alaskan air this weekend, possibly dropping snow levels right down to the valley floors. Given the current forecast for light westerlies, I'm guessing we'll just see very cold rain/snow mix at lower elevations. However, the mountains will see beautiful powder. Unfortunately, the models are only showing .25 inch precip on Sunday and Monday, meaning only 4-6 inches of light snow will fall per day.
Windsurfers and kiteboarders have a shot at hitting the water for an early spring session on Saturday. I, unfortunately, have gardening class. This is a frontal passage-based wind event, meaning it's tough to predict. Given the strength of the front and the frigid temperatures following, I'd say the potential is there for wind. Models suggest 30-40, but that's probably overly optimistic given the time of year and uplifting with the front. Let's go with 30ish at Arlington and take a wait and see attitude. It is windsurfing and kiteboarding season now, right?
Print | posted @ Thursday, March 05, 2009 8:12 PM