Avalanche forecast

Central Cascades

Central Oregon Avalanche Center
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Avalanche danger

Wed
Alpine
2 · Moderate
Treeline
2 · Moderate
Below
1 · Low
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Out of date — this forecast expired 4 years ago. You’re viewing past conditions, not the current bulletin.

Highlights

On Tuesday it will still be possible to trigger a Wind Slab avalanche on North facing slopes at and above treeline.  Observers found shallow Wind Slabs on Monday.  The likelihood of triggering these avalanches will slowly decrease as time passes since the stormy weather early Monday morning, but Tuesday is too soon to cross this avalanche character off our problem list.

Avalanche problems

  • Wind Slabs

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Possible
    Size
    1–1.5

    The winds have been a bit fickle over the past 24 hours with periods of near calm and then periods of Strong winds from the South.  At least one shallow Wind Slab avalanche was observed near treeline on a North slope.  Today's Wind Slabs will become less reactive as we move into Tuesday, but it may still be possible to trigger one.  Also changes in wind direction (SouthWest to SouthEast) may create new pockets of shallow wind slab.

    As always, watch for blowing snow and pay attention to changes in the consistency and depth of the snow as you travel across different aspects.

    (1/9/2023)

    R3 D1 Wind Slab on North slope approx. 7000 ft.

    Photo: Jonas Tarlen

Avalanche Discussion

Writing the avalanche forecast has felt a bit like the movie groundhog day.  Every 24 hrs we get a bit of snow, it's windy, and we see shallow Wind Slab avalanches.  We might see a bit of a break in this pattern without much snow in the forecast for Tuesday.  Wind Slab avalanches will still be possible though, as sometimes they take a few days to fully "adhere".

In areas that are not wind affected our snowpack is "right-side-up".  Today I measured height of snow as 165 cm. at 6,600 ft.  We don't have any significant peristent weak layers.

Regions covered