Why is it so windy in the Columbia River Gorge? The Columbia River winds through the Cascade Mountains, bordering the states of Washington and Oregon from the Eastern deserts to the Pacific Ocean 200 miles to the west. The river’s low-elevation channel moves through miles of mountains. The pressure difference across the Cascade Mountains makes air flow from one side to the other. In the summer, the cold, dense marine air from the west meets the hot and dry air out in the east. The higher the pre