Avalanche Forecast

West winds will slightly decrease but not let up on Saturday with mostly light snow showers much of the day at Mt Hood and cooler temperatures. Alpine west winds and snow should begin to increase in the afternoon as the next system approaches.

Any shallow wind slab from Friday may linger on Saturday. This is mostly likely on northwest to southeast slopes in the near and above treeline. Watch for firm wind transported or hollow sounding snow. Wind slab from Friday may get covered by less cohesive snow Friday night making it harder to detect the underlying wind slab layer.

Be prepared to change your plans if the next storm begins to arrive and significant snow begins to accumulate sooner than expected on Saturday afternoon.

In most of the lower part of the below treeline band there is still insufficient snow for avalanches but watch for early season hazards such as terrain traps, rocks and creeks. The shallowest snow is at pass level at Stevens, Snoqualmie and White Passes.

Another front passed over the Northwest on Wednesday. NWAC stations at Mt Hood had winds generally in the teen to 20 mph range with variable, very strong gusts. New snow on Thursday morning was around 10 inches at NWAC stations.

A bit of a break has been seen on Thursday with snow showers tapering at Mt Hood. Another 1-2 inches of new snow was seen at NWAC stations ending Friday morning.

A front is crossing the area on Friday causing moderate to strong south to west alpine winds, with a few inches of snow possible at Mt Hood and a warming trend.

NWAC pro observer Laura Green was at Mt Hood Meadows ski area on Thursday and reported significant wind transport but with minor small wind slab via ski area control results. But wind slab will be deeper in areas not visited by the ski area control crews.