"Prevailing" Wind in Colunbia River Gorge on L&C Trail

[jimlund]

What is generally the "prevailing "wind in the Columbia River gorge? I'm planning an West to East ride in August.

[jamawani]

The prevailing wind in the Columbia Gorge is almost always west-to-east.
Except in August when summer heating produces a counterflow from hotter interior towards the coast.

In early Sept. 1987, I had headwinds heading east.
In August 1988, I had headwinds heading west.

Late summer can be either way. YMMV

[BikeliciousBabe]

When Cycle Oregon went through the Gorge in mid-September of 2005 we went west and had a slight tailwind, which was unexpected by many. In fact, the fear of riding into the expected strong W-E wind for a couple of days was one factor that influenced some regular participants to pass on the event that year.  I will note that the days were unseasonably warm, so it's possible that we were aided by the counterflow mentioned above.

[jrswenberger]

What is generally the "prevailing "wind in the Columbia River gorge? I'm planning an West to East ride in August.

Prevailing wind is always a 'headwind'...   

[geegee]

I check windy.com regularly while I'm on tour. it's great for managing expectations as it lets you see wind patterns on a macro scale on a map. You can click on any location to find out what the speed and direction and the pop-ups expand to a weather forecast. They have a phone ap, too.

[litespeed]

The one time I did the Columbia River Gorge eastward I had a strong tailwind. I've also done a couple of river gorges in Washington state. Always there was a strong west wind upriver off the Pacific. Everyone told me that was the rule.