Avalanche Forecast

The ridge will slightly amplify and gradually shove the incoming warm front moisture north to BC on Saturday. So rain will initially decrease in the south Cascades Saturday morning and then in the north Cascades Saturday afternoon and night with high snow levels and very mild temperatures.

Although most of the rain will bypass Mt Hood some rain and the warming should make loose wet avalanche possible there. Avoid steep slopes if you are in significant rain or if you srart to see wet snow deeper than a few inches or increasing natural pinwheels or rollerballs.

The avalanche danger should be lower by later Saturday but it is difficult to say how much due to the rapidly changing conditions.

Snow on the back end of the last storm Sunday and Monday was only in the 5-6 inch range at Mt Hood.

NWAC pro-observer CJ Svela was at Timberline on Sunday and reported new snow over a breakable crust. Rounded grain and melt form layers in the mid snow pack seemed to lack consistent shears and tests did not indicate propagation.

The Meadows patrol reported crusts and melt forms in the upper pack on Wednesday and Thursday with good stability. Some cool snow from the last storm was seen on N-NE slopes.

The lower snow pack at Mt Hood should also mainly consist of crusts and stabilized rounded grain or melt form layers from warm  periods so far this winter.

Warm front moisture from the sub tropics will move over an upper ridge and mainly over the Olympics and Washington Cascades through Friday night. Most of the rain will bypass Mt Hood but but there will still be greatly rising snow levels there Friday and Friday night.