Avalanche forecast

Mt Hood

Northwest Avalanche Center
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Avalanche danger

Sat
Alpine
2 · Moderate
Treeline
2 · Moderate
Below
2 · Moderate
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Highlights

You're likely to find wind-stiffened snow on a variety of aspects and elevations.  Use caution around all new or recently wind loaded steep slopes.  Don't let a small avalanche catch you off guard and carry you through trees, rocks or other hazards. 

Avalanche problems

  • Wind Slabs

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

    Another round of light snow overnight and Friday will come with a twist as we flip from a prevailing E-SE wind to W-NW.   Treat all steep slopes with wind-stiffened slopes as suspect; Friday's W-NW winds may build new wind slabs at upper elevations, while shallow wind slabs may linger at lower elevations from Thursday's wind event.  Even more importantly, the winds deposited snow differently across the mountain.   Don't assume the loading pattern you experienced in one area on Thursday applies to a different area Friday. 

    Shooting cracks and, of course, natural or human-triggered avalanches in wind-drifted snow are obvious signs to avoid similar steep slopes.  Be wary of triggering shallow wind slabs at lower elevations or in terrain you'd usually consider "sheltered".  Don't get caught off-guard by a shallow wind slab on open slopes at lower elevations or even in steep treed terrain.  Getting raked through trees, rocks or other hazards will amplify the consequences of even a small avalanche.    

    Shooting cracks in freshly drifted snow on Pea Gravel Ridge Thursday.  Shallow wind slabs (3-6") were easy to trigger on lee slopes. 

    Photo: Joe Dellaporta

Avalanche Discussion

A few inches of snow fell on Thursday with variable winds across the mountain.  At the Mt Hood Meadows ski area, E-SE winds weren't as strong as other areas early in the day and eventually shifted to the SW in the afternoon.  A NWAC forecaster on Pea Gravel Ridge found shallow but easy to trigger wind slabs below treeline on E-NE aspects.  On other parts of the mountain, strong Easterlies were reported at theTimberline (gusts into the 40s) and Ski Bowl (gusts into the mid 50s) weather stations.  

The January Drought Layer (JDL)  has been a prominent upper snowpack marker and a popular topic of conservation in our backcountry community these past weeks. You can dig down 2-3 ft and find this weak, sugary snow in most locations around Mt Hood. However, we have typically found it to be weakest on N-E aspects at lower and middle elevations. While we haven't seen any confirmed avalanches on it, it is worth tracking, especially if you head into more data-sparse areas like the north side of Mt Hood or further east near Lookout Mountain. Across the Columbia River and in the West and East South zones, we have seen propagating test scores, whumpfs, and a few avalanches.

Regions covered