Has anyone in the gorge noticed any relationship between the river flow rate / velocity and the conditions of wind swell on the river ? It’s obvious that the flow of water going opposite to the wind helps create awesome wind swell but do the varying river velocities make a difference ? The river flow measured at the Dalles swung from 1.4ft/sec to to 2.7ft/sec in just the last week. At the wider sections of river this affect would of course be diminished but at the narrower sections I wonder if it would affect the swell in a noticable way. Does anybody have any experience with this ? I’m considering graphing the river flow rate along side wind data comparing conditions based on swell quality and river flow.
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We notice it massively in the UK with relatively modest tidal water speed, order of 1-2 knots max, I would think that with those similar speeds and much higher wind strength it will have an obvious impact. TBH given the confluence of windsports nerds there I’d be surprised if it doesn’t already exist
I guess we notice it most when tide and wind are the same direction, vs opposite. Maybe that is what drives how noticeable it is.
It’s been a long time since I spent a whole season in the gorge but as I recall the bumps do get bigger with higher flows but at very high flows things get more chaotic
Yes. The dam flow speed varies from 300,000 cubic feet per second in the spring down to 100,000 cubic feet per second once the snow has melted. Strongest impact when you are right by the dam.
This alters bump size but more importantly I note how it impacts which foils I can use. Spring is a blast with fast foils that can keep up with the flow and in the fall you can rely on slower foils to ride the bumps and not struggle with the current so much.