I was just advised of the most awesome base jumping/wingsuit video I've ever had the gut wrenching pleasure of watching. Thanks, good buddy JB in Roseburg!
Important note: always wear the proper PPE for all your outdoor activities.
Click here for a bigger screen version. Do it.
wingsuit base jumping from Ali on Vimeo.
Compared to historical averages, December in Hood River was much colder, with average wind speed and rainfall equivalent (rain plus melted snow).
The average temperature was 3.4 degrees colder than long term averages, and 4.0 degrees colder than more recent averages (2000-2007). Wind speeds were average, with SSE winds predominating. Note that the calculation for wind direction is notoriously skewed, especially when the winds come from every which direction during the month.
The first half of the month was pretty boring, weather-wise. There was a high wind gust of 34 mph on Dec 12, as weather patterns started to shift. The second half: not nearly so boring (to put it mildly). Arctic air moved in Dec 14, followed by weeks of snow and ice. See previous posts for some of the more lurid details.
The variety of weather was also unusually capricious. Relatively warm westerly chinook winds raised morning temperatures dramatically on a couple of occasions, only to plunge back down later. On Dec 31, we registered a chinook gust of 33, while Tom's westside weather station had a gust of 50 mph!
There was at least one official record set in December. That occurred on Dec 1, where the high of 57 surpassed the previous record (56 in 1939). Now snowfall, that's a different story. Since there was snow on the ground from Dec 15 thru the end of the month, and it was snowing/compacting/snowing more/compacting more all the time, I don't have any official daily snowfall amounts from MCAREC for that time period. Hopefully we will at some point. But I am pretty sure that new "snow depth" records were set from 12/18 through at least 12/28. This was the most amount of snow on the ground since 1980, and probably surpassed 1980 in number of days of record snow depth.
The data below is from our home weather station. The "historical average" numbers for temperature and rainfall are from the Hood River MCAREC data. Historical wind average is from our own station's 2000 to 2007 data. Note that average wind speeds include all 24 hours of the day and night, which is why they are way lower than daytime peak winds. In addition, the wind speed at our station is considerably lower than on the Columbia River.
| High | Low | Average | Historical Average | ||
| Temperature (F) | 57 | 9 | 32.7 | 36.1 | |
| Wind (mph) | 34 | 1.7 | 1.6 | ||
| Rainfall (in) | 0.98 | 5.57 (total) | 5.81 |
If you've followed this blog for awhile, you know that I'm all over the local weather records. Record rain, snow, temperatures (highs, lows, high lows, low highs). It's an obsession of sorts. Relatively harmless, but an obsession none the less.
And my obsession was deeply satisfied yesterday when we officially received 3.12" of rain equivalent precipitation (melted snow and rain), shattering both the local daily record for Jan 1 of 1.60" (1997), and the daily record for ANY day in January (previously 2.48" Jan 6 1948).
Except for some localized flooding and mudslides, it was a moment in weather history to be savored. You were there. Me too.
Happy New Year!
Well I guess so... The 2 week arctic air/snow event (that we are still struggling to pull out of) has apparently shattered Hood River historical snow depth records for at least 11 consecutive days.
According to my reckoning (and a yardstick embedded into the snow on the deck), we surpassed the snow depth records starting 12/18, and that continued through 12/28. At our house, the yardstick maxed out at 31 inches on Christmas Day. Note to self: Think twice about wishing for a White Christmas in the future.
By the way, the deepest officially recorded snow depth for Hood River was 47 inches on Jan 9, 1980.
Transition: a passage from one steady state to a new steady state, sometimes disruptively.
We are currently experiencing a weather transition in Hood River, and not a moment too soon. After 2 weeks of arctic air sitting over us and producing prodigious amounts of snowfall, we are transitioning to warmer air. This arctic blast has lasted almost twice as long as is typical here, and has resulted in record amounts of snow pack on the ground in Hood River for the second half of December.
Arctic blasts aren't unusual here; most winters we have at least one. This one stands out in its duration, intensity, and amount of snowfall. Not to mention, icicles. Amazing icicles, extending in some cases from roof top to ground. Icicles that reflect and refract light in dancing patterns and colors. Nature's natural lead crystals. Icicles that potentially can pull gutters down to the ground and create ice dams that leak water into houses. Beauty and destruction, all in one neat package.
Traditionally, we usually transition from an arctic blast with sleet and freezing rain. It looks like we might possibly avoid that this time. Fingers are crossed. And, with this much snow on the ground, fingers are especially crossed that flooding can be avoided in the next week.
Arctic air, that is. This temporary incursion of arctic air presents a tremendous opportunity to experience living in a place that has really cold winters. But only for a week or so! Perfect!
We had 5 inches of snow Sunday (which may be a local record), a cold inversion Monday, and beautifully clear sunny weather today. High temp today 23, low 9, minimum wind chill 0 (zero). Tomorrow, snow moves back in, along with another big storm this weekend as the arctic air starts to moderate. This is interesting weather, and I like interesting weather.
Fortunately, arctic blasts here rarely last longer than a week. They usually end on a very messy precipitation event, but they usually end in a timely fashon.
And this one had a perfect setup, at least for garden plants: There were (and still are) several inches of snow on the ground before the really cold temperatures set in, giving plants and the soil a comfy insulating blanket.
Here's a zoomed in and very fuzzy view of Mt Adams from the deck this evening. I gotta trim those branches (except that they belong to a neighbor a block away):
I'll have another post shortly regarding my thoughts on the Hood River Weather site's new addition: the live chat window.
Today was (and still is) a totally fascinating weather day in Hood River. For me, it started at 5 am as I staggered out onto the deck with my first cup of coffee. I had heard the wind howling earlier in the night and figured the broken clouds might provide an excellent view of the full moon. I wasn't disappointed. I attempted to take some pictures of the moon with the clouds swirling past it. No go. Kinda looks like a blurry streetlight. My picture taking skills definitely need some work.
Anyway, we had a peak gust at our house of 36 mph at 6:23 am. That's the second highest gust of the year here, surpassed only by the 37 mph gust on January 17.
This is an unseasonably warm storm. This morning's low of 57 most likely set a record for the "high low" for any Nov 12. The previous record was 48 degrees in 1999. Then, afternoon temperatures warmed up to 65 degrees, tying the record high set in 1990. At my workplace in The Dalles, the high reached a balmy 74 degrees. (Don't ya just love the word "balmy"?)
As I write this (6:05 pm), it's still 60 degrees out, and raining heavily. Regionally, there is some concern about localized flooding, but this early in the season there's not enough snow to melt to cause more severe widespread flooding. It's more a problem with leaves clogging storm drains and water backing up.
I sure do enjoy stormy weather, just short of the point where it starts destroying things.
It's 6 pm now. The temperature has cooled down to a refreshing 104. At 5:10 pm, the temperature here at our weather station maxed out at 108. That not only shattered the old record of 100 for Aug 16 (1977), but it tied the all time highest temperature ever officially recorded for any date in Hood River.
At the peak I was actually trying to will the thermometer to hit 109, and make this the hottest day ever, but, no go. So much for the awesome outside-temperature-changing power of the human mind. On the other hand, there were probably way more people wishing the temperature down...
The wind has shifted to a slight west breeze, and this most likely marks the gradual end of this particular heat wave.
Yesterday's sweltering high of 106 easily surpassed the 75 year old previous record for Aug 15 (101 in 1933). This morning is starting off just as warm, so today's record of 100 (1977) is looking like ancient history also.
The official (OSU Ag Exp Station) record all time high for Hood River is 108 degrees (Aug 18 1977).
Temperatures should start to moderate Sunday with a returning west wind gradient, and next week looks much cooler with a possibility of some rain. Thunderstorms are a distinct possibilty in the next few days.
Click here for Temira's much more detailed (and more entertaining) forecast.
Today is the first day of a 3 to 4 day heat wave in Hood River. Typically, the west wind dies down, gentle easterly breezes come and go, daytime temps soar, and nightly temps drop to a comfortable 60-70 degrees.
Today's high of 100 didn't break a record, but tomorrow's record high of 101 and Saturday's record of 100 are within reach. If this doesn't kick this year's late-ripening tomatoes, peppers, and corn into high gear, nothing will.
On the Hood River Weather site, just under the current temperature, is something called "heat index", otherwise known as the "feels like" temperature. I put it there in the summer in place of "wind chill", which obviously is more of a cooler weather thing.
But, generally speaking, our heat index has been totally unimpressive. It always shows either the current temperature or lower. Some heat index THAT is...
Until the past two days...
A lingering heat wave combined with moisture streaming up from the Southwest has made for hot humid afternoons. Pretty unusual for Hood River. And, the heat index has actually been higher than the actual temperature!! Yes!!
At one point today, the outside temperature was 86, and the humidity was 50%, making for a heat index "feels like" temperature of 89.
Now, people who live in more humid areas of the world would laugh their butts off at this small Hood River heat index. In Florida, for example, try 95 degrees at 75% humidity for a heat index of 110 degrees.
It turns out that, in Hood River, the heat index hardly ever applies. It only takes effect at temperatures of 80 degrees or higher with a relative humidity of 40% or higher. These combined conditions, thankfully, are quite rare here.
In this record breaking cold Spring, temperatures reaching into the 70's feel like a heat wave. Very nice. The extremely epic winds on the river have blessed the wind sports enthusiasts to the point of exhaustion. Those of us not participating in windsurfing or kiteboarding are desperately trying to hang on to anything to prevent being blown away.
Vegetable gardens, having experienced a slow start, are now kicking into gear big time. Our lettuce and garlic are coming along nicely:
Currently harvesting lettuce, green onions, radishes, snow peas, sugar snap peas, cilantro, and celery. Summer squash in a week or two...
This morning's low of 64 was 8 degrees warmer than the previous record "high low" of 56 set in 1986. Amazing. From one of the coldest Springs in memory to record high temperatures, just like that.
We're headed back into cooler temperatures this week, maybe with a touch of rain, followed by a warm Memorial Day weekend.
In an otherwise cold Spring, the past couple of days stand out as exceptional, especially if you like warm weather. And not just warm, but record-breaking HOT weather.
Yesterday's high of 93 shattered the old record of 88 (1970). This morning's low of 56 broke the previous "high low" temperature of 55 (1967). And today's high of 94 surpassed the previous record high of 90 (1954).
Temperature records were also set on the Oregon coast, and my friend in Roseburg Oregon reported a high yesterday of 105. Awesome, and way too hot.
Today, the moderating west winds kicked in around noon, reversing the east wind/hot weather pattern right on schedule with Temira's wind forecast.
Tomorrow's record high is 91, and it's not likely to surpass that, given the current west wind.
I just noticed that yesterday's high temperature of 50 degrees tied Hood River's "lowest high" temperature for the date (April 29), set in 1972.
Just another confirmation that this has been one cold Spring.
Last year, we were setting records for the opposite situation (highest low temperature). What a difference a year makes.
Yep, it snowed today. March 28th. Amazing. Snow this time of the year in Hood River is not unheard of, but it's very unusual, especially for the past few decades. We had 2 inches on our deck by 8 am this morning. It melted away by noon, but snow flurries have continued sporadically all day. Today's high temperature only reached 39 degrees at our house, which ties the "lowest high" record for the date set in 1936. Since official Hood River records are kept by the OSU Ag Station, this may have actually broken that record. Tomorrow's "lowest high" record of 42 degrees (also in 1936) might fall, as cold, wet, and probably snowy weather is forecast thru Saturday noon. Things should start warming by Sunday into next week.
The last date in the Spring in Hood River that has ever received measurable snow is April 4th in (yep, you guessed it)...1936.
After a week of sunny and cold weather, moisture returns. Right now (Saturday 8 pm), it's in the form of snow. Lots of snow. 11 inches and more to come. The temperature, which has dipped to 14 degrees in the past week, is still plenty cold at 27 degrees. The warming trend will be slow over the next few days.
Forecasts are for more precipitation through Tuesday. If past patterns hold true, most will fall in the form of snow, followed by sleet, followed by freezing rain.
For those who like a wide variety of weather, this winter has been great. Hardly any boring cloudy inversion events. And, in a couple more weeks, winter patterns will start changing over to more spring-like patterns.
Feel free to post your local snow amounts here.
4:00 pm Sunday afternoon. It's still relatively warm outside at 37 degrees, but a very cold air mass from the northeast is coming our way this evening. This will be our first arctic breakout of the winter, but not at all unusual for January. Expect low temperatures over the next 4 days in the mid teens and maybe lower. In these type of events, we'll have east winds of 5 to 10 mph while Portland on the other end of the Gorge will have 50+ mph east winds. Brrrrr!
However, no chance of breaking any local all time cold records this week, as low temperatures in 1930 at this time in January were in the -15 to -20 range.
The Hood River Weather poll this week attempts to be topical with the question "how do you heat your home?" We have a natural gas furnace, supplemented occasionally with a wood stove. I've lived in 6 different houses here since 1976, and this combination of heating along with a pretty tight house is the best ever. Still, winter heating bills just keep climbing. It doesn't seem to matter that we use the same or fewer therms or KW hours, since the cost per unit continues to climb.
Oh, by the way, I replaced the outside temperature sensor late last week, and the occasional "extremely high temperature" reading problem hasn't reoccurred. Keeping my fingers crossed.
Yesterday, as a massive storm swept over the West Coast, the barometric pressure dropped to levels usually associated with hurricanes and cyclones. Here at our weather station in Hood River, the barometer bottomed out at 28.91 inches Hg.
I haven't been able to find a barometric pressure historical database for Hood River, but yesterday's reading is the lowest at our station since we started it 10 years ago. The previous low was 28.94 on December 16, 2002.
The Columbia River Gorge is well known for its high winds, but an odd characteristic of most of these extreme winter west coast windstorms is that the Gorge (especially around Hood River) stays remarkably wind-free. The winds yesterday were calm with a peak "gust" of 7 mph. For some reason, the pressure differential from Portland to The Dalles stays pretty much flat in these storms, and therefore little wind occurs here.
Is anyone aware of any historical barometric databases for Hood River? Any observations from your own barometers from yesterday?
