Avalanche forecast

Mt Hood

Northwest Avalanche Center
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Avalanche danger

Sun
Alpine
2 · Moderate
Treeline
2 · Moderate
Below
1 · Low
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Out of date — this forecast expired 3 years ago. You’re viewing past conditions, not the current bulletin.

Highlights

As the skies begin to clear and the winds relax, evidence of freshly drifted snow shouldn't be hard to find. As you gain elevation, look for signs of instability like shooting cracks or sensitive drifts. Identify steep slopes that may hold unstable wind slabs that you may want to avoid.

Avalanche problems

  • Wind Slabs

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Possible
    Size
    1–2

    New snow piled up quickly Friday evening as temperatures cooled of significantly. The strong winds were quick to create drifts and slabs on lee slopes. These wind slabs should be larger and thicker as you gain elevation, where more snow fell and winds were stronger. However, you could still find a small pocket to slide below 6,000ft. 

    Use visual clues to help you identify slopes to avoid. Pay attention to sharp cornices, rippled snow surfaces, and deep drifts to help you identify problematic areas. You can use small test slopes to see how the new snow is bondinging to older surfaces. Feel for areas of stiffer snow. If you find signs of instability like shooting cracks or see any recent avalanche activity, then steer away from steep large slopes with increased consequences. Especially consider avoiding heavily loaded terrain features like moraines and other well defined convex breakovers.

    Small wind slab in White Salmon river basin from a previous season.

    Photo: Andrew Kiefer

Avalanche Discussion

We're all looking forward to enjoying some new snow this weekend. As the storm abates and the skies begin to clear, keep your avalanche eyeballs open. Even though the danger is Moderate, it's still very possible to trigger or get caught in a nasty slide. 

Observers on Friday reported some shallow pockets of wind slab, and the new snow was bonding well to the surface at lower elevations. Higher elevations are a bit of an unknown, so be sure to evaluate how new snow is bonding as you gain elevation. We'd expect the new snow to be less well bonded as you gain elevation. In many places, the new snow will be resting on old melt freeze crust. Earlier in the week observers reported a crust on solar aspects extending to 10,000 ft (observation here), but also dry snow and better ski quality on shaded aspects. 

Lower elevations have struggled to build a meaningful snowpack so far. So watch for shallowly buried objects that could ruin the rest of your season. 

If you get up on the mountain, let us know what you see by submitting a public observation.

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