Hello,
outdoor wedding in the columbia river gorge and yes, beginning to track on line weather forecasts. I live in new england and have learned not to rely too much on accuracy of forecasts that go out more than a few days. Even that can often be completely off. I often wonder whether certain areas of the country forecasting is more predictable, perhaps fewer factors that can throw a kink into the predictability.

My question, is there one particular website or blog the locals find has greater accuracy? Do you find the weather can be very changeable from what is predicted? If 30% showers is predicted, is there any reason I should think the % in Oregon should be looked at any different than here in new england ? Thanks for any knowledge you have on this. We want to know if/when we need to be taking seriously a plan B in case of inclement weather.

How soon before the wedding would you have to change plans?
Some areas of the gorge are very windy at times so stay away from tents.
What month are we planning the wedding for?
Sign in to 2 of the Portland TV stations. If they agree for about 5 days out, then you can believe them.
The farther east on the gorge you go the drier the climate is.
Often it will rain hard in Portland but not at The Dalles.

For here in OR, this is the the website that we find most accurate. The one thing with the gorge is the wind. The forecast will mention that, but many people just look at temps and rain. The gorge can be a wind tunnel, so keep that in mind. In winter it can mean cold, but in the summer it can be a very warm wind.

http://forecast.weather.gov/MapClick...1#.U5B1DxZFKJU

When planning in the distant future, I refer to annual averages. Hoping for a rain free outdoor wedding in Hood River, Oregon, I would schedule it for July, August, June, May, or September: http://www.weatherbase.com/weather/w...tes-of-America

Were the wedding to be in Tillamook, I would stash umbrellas around: http://www.weatherbase.com/weather/w...tes-of-America

HTtY

HTTY--Juldie has posted before and the date is already set for around the middle of this month.

Who knew!

Then now she knows average rainfall is less than one inch in Hood River during the month of June.

I wouldn't worry about rain, but if Juldie is concerned somebody will rain on her parade she should have a back up plan no matter what the forecast is.

HTtY

PS This is the source I use for ten-day forecasts: http://www.intellicast.com/Local/Wea...ation=USOR0162
It is as accurate as any other, which means "not always."

Thanks to you all. Yes, the wedding is the whole weekend of the 14/15th of this month. We'll be checking the various sources you suggested and other sites I usually go to. I like the idea of the tv stations; I do that here and find them pretty up to date on predictions particularly when its within 2-3 days. We'll hope for the best and do have a back up plan to be inside on the grounds. We've warned the guests to bring many layers!