Lawinenlagebericht

Mt Hood

Northwest Avalanche Center
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Lawinengefahr

Wed
Hochgebirge
3 · Erheblich
Waldgrenze
3 · Erheblich
Unterhalb
2 · Mässig
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Veraltet — dieser Lagebericht ist 2 years ago abgelaufen. Du siehst vergangene Verhältnisse, nicht den aktuellen Bericht.

Kernpunkte

Very strong and gusty winds will strip snow from exposed slopes and build deep firm slabs along the lee sides of ridges and features. If the storm pans out, some could be several feet thick. Don’t mess around with these big hard windloaded slopes.

Lawinenprobleme

  • Wind Slabs

    • Hochgebirge
    • Waldgrenze
    • Unterhalb der Waldgrenze
    Wahrscheinlichkeit
    Likely
    Größe
    1.5–2.5

    Given the wind forecast, we don’t expect a lot of non-wind affected snow above the rain-snow line. Scoured slopes will provide safety from avalanche issues, but could be very firm and icy. Other slopes will likely be loaded with firm thick slabs. These likely won’t be the type of wind slab you want to try and manage. Small slopes and hand pits could give you very misleading information. Hard slabs can lure you far out onto them before they fail. Instead, avoidance is the only real option. Look for lower angle terrain to avoid the hazard.

    (12/16/2024)

    Example: Wind-scoured ridgelines can provide safely and a clue to nearby wind slabs. 

    Photo: Northwest Avalanche Center

  • Loose Wet

    • Hochgebirge
    • Waldgrenze
    • Unterhalb der Waldgrenze
    Wahrscheinlichkeit
    Possible
    Größe
    1

    Near the rain-snow line, wet heavy snow will start to accumulate over the crust. You may be able to push this snow into loose avalanche. While they should stay rather small, don’t let one shove you into an open creek or off a cliff. 

    If short sun breaks turn into more “sunshine” you could also see small natural wet slides. Watch for snow shedding from trees and rocks as the precursor to these avalanches. Pay attention to what’s above, and don’t let these easy to predict slides catch you by surprise. 

    Normally we think about rain on snow producing wet slides. In general, that’s not the case this go around. The snowpack below the rain-snow line has been through a lot and should be well situated to deal with additional water.

    (12/10/2024)

    Example: Small, sluggish pushalanches are a sign you could trigger larger wet loose on steep solar slopes. These ran on the firm crust. 

    Photo: Joe Dellaporta

Avalanche Discussion

The storm train just keeps coming for Mt Hood! With this system very stormy weather Monday night should give way to a much quieter start to Christmas Eve. As a result you’ll likely see the most dangerous conditions first thiing in the morning right after the loading event. Even still, with these hard wind slabs, the hazard might not drop much. Increasing winds in the afternoon likely won't have much snow left to blow around. 

Variable travel could be the name of the game on Tuesday. A high elevation rain event on December 17th created a stout crust and resulted in a widespread avalanche cycle up to D3. This crust was subsequently buried by storms over the weekend (a reexposed by wind scouring). Focus your observations at and above this very prominent snowpack marker. 

At lower elevations, things are still a bit thin. Watch for open creeks, bushes, and logs that make travel slow going.

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