Avalanche forecast

Mt Hood

Northwest Avalanche Center
View on map

Avalanche danger

Wed
Alpine
2 · Moderate
Treeline
2 · Moderate
Below
2 · Moderate
Open full map
Out of date — this forecast expired 7 months ago. You’re viewing past conditions, not the current bulletin.

Highlights

Warming-induced avalanche concerns should be on your radar in steep, sun-exposed terrain. Wet snow instabilities may become more widespread as warming temperatures continue to weaken the snow surface. Pay close attention to your aspect, timing, and avoid traveling above terrain traps if the snow surface feels wet and punchy. 

Avalanche problems

  • Loose Wet

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

    Wet avalanche concerns will continue to manifest on steep, sun-exposed slopes as the warming continues. So far, we have seen the most wet snow instabilities occur on steep sun-exposed, middle, and lower elevation slopes - particularly around cliff bands. Look for wet loose avalanches to shed in similar, steep terrain on Tuesday. As temperatures continue to rise and stay warm, look for wet snow instabilities to become more widespread and slowly creep onto east and west aspects, or in the alpine as wind hammered surfaces begin to soften. 

    Wet snow instabilities should be easy to spot. Look for rollerballs, sticky snows, and snow fanning out under your feet or machine—these all signal a weak, wet surface. Track your aspect and be ready to move onto shadier slopes if the snow feels wet, sloppy and unsupportable. We have enough new snow over a crust that some wet loose avalanches could grow large in specific terrain. Don’t underestimate this problem, especially if there are terrain traps present, such as creeks, trees, or deep depressions like you see in this photo.

    As warming temperatures persist, larger wet slab activity becomes increasingly more possible. We had enough recent avalanche activity during our last cycle that larger wet slabs releasing as the temperature climbs isn’t fully out of the question. While this seems unlikely given our snowpack structure, wet snow can be difficult to forecast. Monitor overnight refreezes and water movement through the snowpack.

    (3/7/2024)

    Cliffy, sun-exposed terrain is often susceptible to wet snow instabilities during periods of high pressure.  

    Photo: Koby Yudkin

Avalanche Discussion

The annual January drought has officially begun. The region is entering a warm and dry period for the foreseeable future. The snowpack will likely begin resembling conditions you’d see in April rather than January as freezing levels rise well above our upper-elevation band. Fortunately, clear skies have kept northerlies dry, while more sun-exposed slopes are entering a melt-freeze cycle. 

While we are warming up, there are still small amounts of snow blowing around up high. Keep wind slabs on your radar as you climb into upper elevation terrain. Most of these slabs are likely trending unreactive at this point, but there could still be unstable slabs kicking around above 7000 ft in shaded, complex terrain. You should absolutely default to less steep terrain if you notice cracking or if the slab sounds hollow like a drum. 

This past week brought 20-30 inches of new snow that fell over a stout crust on January 3rd. We saw a few large to very large natural avalanches that likely ran on or above this crust during the stormy period on Jan 6th-8th. Since the storm ended, avalanche activity and signs of instability have been confined to wind-drifted terrain. The upper snowpack is heavily wind affected. Below the surface, the snowpack is generally strong and well bonded to the underlying January 3rd crust.

Regions covered