Avalanche forecast

Mt Hood

Northwest Avalanche Center
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Avalanche danger

Sun
Alpine
4 · High
Treeline
3 · Considerable
Below
3 · Considerable
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Highlights

Heavy rain and snow Friday night combined with strong winds through Saturday extends the risk for very large, destructive natural avalanches, particularly at upper elevations. Choose windward slopes and sheltered terrain, avoiding large avalanche slopes where avalanches can start, stop, or run. At lower elevations, wet slabs present a lingering and difficult to manage risk on any steep, open slope.

Avalanche problems

  • Wind Slabs

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Very Likely
    Size
    2–3

    The risk of large to very large natural avalanches will continue through Saturday. Very heavy rain and snow arrives Friday night. Although it relents by Saturday morning, don't let your guard down. Strong winds with extreme gusts will continue to buffet the region, particularly the south and east sides of the mountain. Slabs could be very large at upper elevations. Active wind loading could trigger these when you don't suspect it thousands of feet below. Avoid all terrain connected to upper elevation start zones. This includes exposed upper canyon runouts, where very large avalanches can snake through during storms like this. Also avoid all upper elevation slopes steeper than 35 degrees. So far this storm cycle: One very large avalanche (D3+) has already run far into Heather Canyon, with several other D2–D3 seismic signals reported in the White River and upper mountain. 

    At middle and lower elevations, lowering snow levels will deposit 2-6" of new snow in the early morning hours on Saturday, with snow showers bringing an additional inch or so of snow during the day. This new snow sits above a refreezing upper crust. Avoid thick wind deposits and areas of active wind loading. In some cases, strong winds will deposit snow toward canyon bottoms, on the lee sides of morraines, and even in forested areas. 6" of wind-stiffened snow is your threshold for avalanches that can take you for a ride. Deposits thicker than 1 ft, would produce an avalanche with an uncertain outcome.

    (3/12/2026)

    The debris of a very large avalanche in Heather Canyon that released during the early morning hours on Thursday. This avalanche ran to roughly 5300 ft.

    Photo: Mt. Hood Meadows Pro Patrol

  • Wet Slabs

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

    We're not sure whether wet slabs will materialize, but we're expecting 1.5-2" of water equivalent to impact an already saturated snowpack above a crust on Friday. A cooling trend will help begin to heal the fully saturated upper snowpack from Thursday from the top down, but a transition to snow may insulate the wet layer. Wet slabs are a difficult to manage problem. These slabs could be large, destructive, and widely propagating. They form when rain water pools on a crust. Avoid steep open slopes until you are confident that a firm crust has formed under the fresh snow. If sufficient dry snow falls, the sun may come out and destabilize it on the southern half of the compass, forming wet loose avalanches. While generally small, you're best served to adjust your aspect once the snow surfaces moisten and rollerballs start moving.

    Example: A widely propagating wet slab.Photo: Forest McBrian

Avalanche Discussion

Although precipitation rates eased slightly Thursday night through Friday, it's been a massive storm cycle for Mt Hood. As of Thursday evening, snow totals exceeded 40 inches (>6 inches snow water equivalent) with another 1.2" of precipitation arriving as liquid water at lower elevations, then pushing into middle elevations during the day on Friday. Despite the stormy conditions, the Mt. Hood Meadows Pro Patrol confirmed a very large avalanche (D3.5–D4) in Heather Canyon from the early morning hours on Thursday, which our friends at the USGS also detected seismically. The avalanche ran to 5,300 ft and gouged for 15 minutes; its exact crown elevation remains unknown. The USGS also recorded several large signals likely corresponding to D2–D3 avalanches in White River Canyon, Yocum Ridge, and above Palmer on the south side.

The heavy load of new snow has piled up over a stout crust that was buried on March 9th. The 2 ft of snow above the crust is now fully saturated below 5500 ft. At middle elevations the crust is around 3 ft down and the top 8" of snow were saturated by mid-day Friday. Fortunately, this robust crust is limiting deeper layers of concern. Moving forward, avalanches will likely either fail on or just above this crust within the recent storm snow.

Very heavy rain and snow is expected Thursday night with 1.5-2" of water equivalent. Most of this will arrive as rain at middle elevations, but the tail end of the precipitaiton will see snow levels dropping rapidly into lower elevations. The rain arrives on an already fully saturated lower elevation snowpack and may pool, forming the lubrication needed for wet slabs. With dynamic weather remaining in the foreast through Saturday, you'll need to use your power of observation more than normal. Also insert a wider margin for safety than you typically do, given the potential size of and difficulty in assessing or escaping very large wind slabs on slopes above you and water moving through the lower elevation snowpack.

 

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