PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — Wind speeds close to 115 mph were recorded along high-elevation areas of Mt. Hood Friday, as a wind advisory remains in effect for the greater Portland-Vancouver area.
Meteorologist Scott Weishaar with Portland’s National Weather Service told KOIN 6 that avalanche sensors placed at elevations above 7,000 feet are currently recording the region’s strongest winds of the season.
According to data provided by the University of Utah’s MesoWest project, an area of Mt. Hood, approximately 1,000 feet above the Timberline Lodge, is seeing sustained northeasterly winds of 70 to 80 mph and gusts that regularly exceed 100 mph. The strongest gusts topped out at about 115 mph.
“To be able to withstand sustained winds speeds 70 to 80 mph, it must be a pretty robust storm system,” Weishaar said.
Mt. Hood Meadows Avalanche sensors at 7,300 feet elevation are also recording gusts in the range of 85 and 95 mph. The active wind advisory ends Saturday at 1 a.m.