Avalanche forecast

Mt Hood

Northwest Avalanche Center
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Avalanche danger

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

Very dangerous avalanche conditions will exist at Mount Hood on Wednesday. High snowfall rates, extreme winds, and rising temperatures will result in natural avalanches. Some could run into lower-elevation terrain, so avoid all slopes where an avalanche can start, run, or stop. 

Avalanche problems

  • Wind Slabs

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

    Strong to extreme winds will combine with heavy snowfall to pummel Mount Hood on Wednesday. Expect slabs to develop quickly and fail naturally at mid to upper elevations. Rising freezing levels during this event means the snow may come in “upside-down,” creating dangerous slabs even in wind-sheltered terrain. Slabs will undoubtedly be large enough to bury and kill you and could grow very large at upper elevations. Crusts in the upper snowpack could become an excellent sliding surface for avalanches to run far distances into lower-elevation terrain. Wednesday will not be the day to try to tiptoe around the danger. Avoid all slopes where avalanches can start, run, or stop. This includes down in the canyons or forests at lower elevations.

    (2/22/2024)

    A large explosive triggered wind slab avalanche at middle elevations. Don't be surprised to see similarly sized avalanches fail naturally on Wednesday.

    Photo: Joe Dellaporta

Avalanche Discussion

Tuesday was a bit of a break between storms, but it may not have felt that way. Winds were ripping as temperatures slowly climbed throughout the day. Avalanche professionals reported that hard wind slabs were building throughout the day, and wind effect was present even in the trees.

On Wednesday, expect peak warming to coincide with the heaviest precipitation and strong to extreme winds during the daylight hours. Below roughly 5000 feet, a switch to rain could result in wet avalanche activity. It will be a very dangerous day to be in the mountains. Again, you should avoid all terrain where avalanches can start, run, or stop - including well down in the forest and canyons.

A cold winter storm dropped 1.5-2 feet of low-density snow on Monday, creating the 2/24 interface. Deeper in the snowpack, a series of crusts and pockets of weak snow exist above the stout Early February Crust (EFC). These layers have produced inconsistent snowpack test results in recent days. They have generally been gaining strength but may not be fully healed. We wouldn’t be surprised to hear of an avalanche breaking down to the EFC during this next storm event. 

Multiple very large avalanches have occurred in recent days during loading events. Some of which were above NWAC’s forecast zone. Regardless of their elevation, we’re heading into our most significant loading event in weeks, and the snowpack will be stressed. Whether they break on the EFC, are very large wind slabs, or something else doesn’t really matter. These are not avalanches you’re going to want to be anywhere near. They could break trees and will certainly be large enough to kill you, even if you’re far below where they start.

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