Avalanche Forecast

Slowly lowering freezing levels and light amounts of new snowfall will decrease the avalanche danger Monday in the Mt. Hood area. The wet upper snowpack will begin refreezing Monday, but loose wet avalanches are possible to trigger on steep slopes with wet surface snow, especially in the morning. Avoid slopes where avalanches may carry you into dangerous terrain such as over a cliff, into a creek, or down a gully. 

The likelihood for large and destructive wet slab avalanches originating from above treeline should decrease substantially Monday. However, limit your exposure to avalanche paths that originate at higher elevations for one more day to mitigate this low likelihood/high consequence problem.

Moderate to strong W-NW winds were seen over the weekend at Mt. Hood, but due to continued mild conditions, there is no snow available for transport in the above treeline band (NWAC's forecast does not apply above 7000-8000 feet). The recent mild and at times wet weather has created wet surface snow conditions well into the above treeline terrain in the Mt Hood area. 

The upper snowpack consist of a mix of wet snow, old crusts, and well consolidated storm snow. 

Observations

Mt. Hood Meadows pro-patrol reported that Friday's widespread wet loose avalanche activity had become more stubborn and isolated near and below treeline by Saturday.  The wet upper snowpack was still quite unconsolidated with the most recent 1/18 crust breaking down due to the sustained mild wet weather. Winds were strong near and above treeline but no snow was available for transport in area.