Avalanche forecast

Mt Hood

Northwest Avalanche Center
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Avalanche danger

Sun
Alpine
2 · Moderate
Treeline
2 · Moderate
Below
2 · Moderate
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Highlights

The type of hazard you will encounter depends on your elevation. At upper elevations, steer around shallow stripes or pockets of wind-loaded snow 6" or deeper, easily identifiable atop a refreezing crust. Middle and lower elevations have a lingering low-risk but high-consequence wet slab hazard, making it prudent not to spend extra time under large open slopes.

Avalanche problems

  • Wind Slabs

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

    2-7" of recent snow, combined with moderate to strong SW winds have created shallow slabs that will be reactive at upper elevations.  Pay attention to this problem once you enter elevations portraying a patchwork of firmer, fresher snow drifts and exposed crust. These drifts could be reactive in areas where the deposits are 6" or thicker. You can trigger them on the downwind side of ridges or moraine features, particuarly on steep or poorly supported features even well below ridgelines. Small test slopes and quick snowpack tests can provide valuable data points about the reactivity of these slabs. Shooting cracks tell you how much a slab might propagate across a slope.

    (3/28/2025)

    Fresh wind-blown drifts alternate with older wet snow or a refreezing crust.

    At upper elevations, these drifts will be large enough to take you for a ride.

    Photo: Northwest Avalanche Center

  • Wet Slabs

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Unlikely
    Size
    2–3

    Large wet slab activity occurred as recently as 3/26. Although the risk of a large wet slab continues a gradual downtrend and we believe the probability of a natural wet slab would be quite low, we can't count these out entirely without a solid refreeze in the 4000-6500 ft range.  This could occur Friday night, but we're not sure. So, what should you do if you are traveling in terrain in which you can still sink a boot into wet snow past your ankle? These are the areas where you should focus on the problem. In this case, don’t linger on or under large open or sparcely tree covered slopes.  The best way to deal with this tricky problem is to increase your buffer around steep terrain that remains wet and punchy. 

    In areas that do receive shallow amounts of fresh snow, wet loose avalanches that entrain may release and run on the refreezing crust or you could initiate them by pushing snow on the slope. If they start entraining older snow, this would become more concerning.

    (3/26/2025)

    A large (D2.5) wet slab that released on 3/26 in the White River.

    WS-N-R3-D2.5-O / SE @ 5900 ft

    Photo: Joe Dellaporta

Avalanche Discussion

The much-anticipated return to winter has been slower to materialize than we'd hoped. As a result, Friday's mild temperatures didn't allow much new snow to materialize below 6500 ft. These elevations picked up 2-6" of wind-blasted snow overnight.

Despite the cool down, we're keeping the lingering threat of wet slabs across Mt Hood and the southern Cascades on our minds. We’re coming out of a warm and active period that brought many large to very large natural wet avalanches. Some of these have propagated widely and have occurred as recently as March 26, as observed here.  While temperatures are cooler, they may still be mild enough for meltwater to percolate in the snowpack, especially at middle and lower elevations. If you find a supportable new melt-freeze crust, you will enjoy better riding conditions and can have more peace of mind venturing into steep terrain.

If you get out into the mountains, let us know what you see by submitting a public observation here. 

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