Avalanche Forecast

Becoming cloudy overnight Thursday through Friday. Winds should be mostly westerly and light to moderate. 

Moderate to locally strong E-NE winds Tuesday night and Wednesday have loaded unusual aspects and built wind slab in all elevation bands on Mt Hood.

Allow fresh wind slabs time to stabilize and avoid terrain where even a small slab avalanche could have unintended consequences. Avoid travelling on any terrain if you encounter firmer wind transported snow, which may be on all slope aspects or cross loaded slopes, especially in areas with varied terrain and modified wind directions.

Weather and Snowpack

A low pressure system moved south over western Washington on Saturday night followed by cold Arctic air. NWAC stations at Mt Hood had SW winds Saturday and 5 inches of snowfall by Sunday morning.

An unusual moist reverse orographic east flow caused snow mainly in the central to south Cascades Sunday afternoon and night. NWAC stations at Mt Hood had a shift to NE winds and another 10-12 inches of snow on Monday morning and further cooling as the Arctic air mass further moved into the Northwest.

Strong E-NE winds likely ravaged the snow surface on Mt. Hood Tuesday night and Wednesday. Winds near treeline regularly gusted into the 50s and 60s, while the upper stations at Meadows and Timberline had multiple gusts to 100 mph. Winds were still strong, but starting to moderate Wednesday afternoon. 

Recent Observations

The Mt Hood Meadows pro-patrol on Monday reported that the recent wind shift was moving snow to S-W slopes. On avalanche control on Monday morning sensitive 4-6 inch storm slabs were released by skis on most test slopes. Deeper storm slab to about 2 feet was expected in loaded areas which could release to the Solstice crust. The shift to NE winds as also building new local soft 8-24 inch wind slab on S-W slopes.

NWAC pro-observer Laura Green was on E-NE slopes on Elk Mountain on Monday and found minor wind transport in the above tree in the 4200-5400 foot range but no signs of instability.

No reports were received on Wednesday and fierce winds that kept the ski areas from running most of their lifts also likely prevented anyone from venturing into the near or above treeline on Mt. Hood. 

Laura was at the Mt Hood Meadows Ski Area on Thursday following some of the strongest winds experienced on Mt Hood for a very, very long time and to no surprise, reported a vastly wind affected snowscape near and above tree line. Deep hard slabs, likely 1-2 meters or more in depth were common as well as scoured slopes, sastrugi as well as more shallow wind slabs. These deep slabs are unlikely to be triggered by a solo traveler, however, more shallow wind slabs may be a different story.