Lawinenlagebericht

Mt Hood

Northwest Avalanche Center
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Lawinengefahr

Sun
Hochgebirge
2 · Mässig
Waldgrenze
2 · Mässig
Unterhalb
1 · Gering
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Veraltet — dieser Lagebericht ist 4 years ago abgelaufen. Du siehst vergangene Verhältnisse, nicht den aktuellen Bericht.

Kernpunkte

As the day heats up you may be able to trigger small wet loose avalanches on steep sunny slopes. Think about moving to shadier areas to avoid this wet and weak snow. If you push to higher elevations, keep an eye out for pockets of wind-drifted snow on leeward terrain. 

Lawinenprobleme

  • Loose Wet

    • Hochgebirge
    • Waldgrenze
    • Unterhalb der Waldgrenze
    Wahrscheinlichkeit
    Possible
    Größe
    1–1.5

    Sunshine, mild temps, and low wind speeds!  With this, you’ll likely encounter wet snow on sunny aspects by the late morning hours. In these spots, wet loose avalanches will be possible for you to trigger.

    Look for rollerballs and pinwheels releasing as these are indicators telling you the surface is becoming wet and weak. Move to shadier, colder slopes once you start seeing these signs. 

     

    Example of small wet loose avalanches on road cuts near Timberline.  

    Photo: Joe Dellaporta

  • Wind Slabs

    • Hochgebirge
    • Waldgrenze
    • Unterhalb der Waldgrenze
    Wahrscheinlichkeit
    Possible
    Größe
    1–2

    Any newly formed wind slabs from our sneaky inch are likely shallow and isolated in distribution. However, I would be most concerned about the older, hard slabs that formed on 2/8. These older wind slabs are showing signs of healing and are stubborn to trigger, but these could really mess your day up if you do get caught. 

    Look for these wind slabs on specific slopes - such as on the leeward side of ridges, the top of chutes/couloirs, under cornices, and on any convex roll in the alpine. 

    This avalanche dragon is easy to navigate around. Just use your eyes and look for rounded pillows of snow and fresh cornices to help you identify possible slopes of concern. Avoid steeper lines if you see signs of unstable snow, such as shooting cracks or hear snow that sounds hollow like a drum. 

    (12/3/2022)

    A shooting crack in a stiff pocket of wind-drifted snow. Move away from steep wind-loaded slopes if you see signs like this. 

    Photo: Dallas Glass

Avalanche Discussion

The storm cycle on 2/7-2/8 brought up to 10 inches of new snow on a slight cooling trend to the Mt Hood zone. This resulted in a right-side-up snow structure and good riding conditions on more sheltered slopes.

Since then we’ve been in a pretty benign weather pattern.  Observers have been reporting good riding conditions on more sheltered slopes, wet loose avalanches on slopes that have a southern tilt ( Observation) , and chalky variable snow in the alpine.  

Saturday will be a beautiful day to be out in the mountains. You’ll likely see everyone and their best friend out there. So with that, it will be a great opportunity for you to practice safe travel techniques such as using good communication, giving other parties space, and only exposing one person at a time on bigger terrain features. 

Lastly, if you do push up into the alpine, let us know what you see by submitting an observation!

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