Avalanche forecast

Mt Hood

Northwest Avalanche Center
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Avalanche danger

Wed
Alpine
3 · Considerable
Treeline
2 · Moderate
Below
2 · Moderate
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Highlights

You’ll find dangerous avalanche conditions in locations where the wind has drifted snow into thick slabs above 6500 ft. You can reduce your risk of triggering a large avalanche by sticking to ridges and avoiding steep, wind loaded features. Lingering instabilities in storm snow or on solar slopes may be present at middle and lower elevations.  

Avalanche problems

  • Wind Slabs

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

    Moderate to strong W/SW winds will continue to drift new snow in cohesive slabs through the early morning hours.  With that, look for these slabs to be the freshest and most primed for human-triggering during the morning. Slab depths will range from 1-3 ft thick depending on your elevation and aspect, but in general, look for these to become denser and more consequential as you climb above treeline. 

    Be suspicious of any terrain that promotes drifting. Wind slabs will often lurk on the downwind side of ridges and canyons, below cornices, or on the break-over of unsupported features. Pay attention to surface clues as you move through terrain. Look for ripples, dunes, and sharp cornices to help you identify features of concern. Shooting cracks, whumphing, or recent avalanches are obvious clues of unstable snow and are great reasons to simplify your terrain selection. 

    Additional Discussion: While the storm has tapered, storm slab instabilities may linger on certain terrain features in more wind-protected terrain. Evaluate for instability in the new snow and use caution on steep, unsupported terrain. 

    (2/17/2025)

    There was plenty of active drifting above 6000 ft on Monday. While most of the wind loading we observed was on leeward, east aspects we did observe down canyon winds cross-loading west aspects as well. 

    Photo: Joe Dellaporta

  • Loose Wet

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Possible
    Size
    1–1.5

    Some sun breaks may allow the surface snow on solar slopes to loosen and weaken. The first signs of surface warming typically include rollerballs and pinwheels shedding. You typically see these in steep or rocky terrain in the sun. While most of these wet loose will be small, don’t underestimate wet snow in extreme terrain. They can grow larger as they move further down slope and could push you into unwanted terrain. Move to shaider slopes or less steep terrain once you notice these signs of warming. 

    (2/17/2025)

    Rollerballs released as the sun poked out on Monday. Expect more of this on Tuesday during sun breaks. 

    Photo: Joe Dellaporta

Avalanche Discussion

It's been quite the week for the Mt Hood zone. So far, snow totals sit in the 30-40 inch range since Valentine's Day.  

Unsurprisingly, avalanche professionals and backcountry observers reported recent avalanches and plenty of red flags over the Holiday weekend. On Monday morning, the Mt Hood Meadows Pro Patrol reported remotely triggering storm slabs that failed up 15 inches thick in lower Heather Canyon. Other observers traveling in Newton Creek also reported sensitive storm and wind slabs and even heard a couple of notable whumphs. 

The new snow is still deep and unconsolidated in many areas. Deep snow immersion will be a real hazard for the next few days. Give treewells and creeks a wide buffer while keeping your partners in close sight. 

The January Drought Layer (JDL)  can still be found under 2-4 ft of recent snowfall. This weak layer has proven to be very variable depending on aspect and elevation in the zone. So far observers have found this weak layer to be most concerning on N-E aspects at middle and lower elevations. We haven’t seen any confirmed avalanches on it in the Mt Hood zone, but new snow and strong winds often raise our hackles as forecasters. Be suspicious of this weak layer if you head to more data-sparse areas of the zone like Lookout Mountain or the north side of Mt Hood. 

You can contribute to the avalanche forecast! Submit an observation here. 

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