Avalanche forecast

Mt Hood

Northwest Avalanche Center
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Avalanche danger

Mon
Alpine
3 · Considerable
Treeline
3 · Considerable
Below
2 · Moderate
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Out of date — this forecast expired 3 years ago. You’re viewing past conditions, not the current bulletin.

Highlights

You can trigger slab avalanches in pockets of wind-drifted snow on Sunday. Winds have blown from multiple directions over the last 24 hours, so don’t let your guard down as you change aspects. Seek more sheltered slopes or travel on scoured surfaces to avoid this problem. 

Avalanche problems

  • Wind Slabs

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

    Low-density new snow and unusual wind patterns will create fresh wind slabs all over the compass on Sunday. On Saturday, observers even found these slabs reactive at lower elevations due to strong low-level east winds. 

    These wind slabs will have a different flavor based on your elevation. At lower elevations look for shallower, softer slabs. But, as you climb into middle and upper elevations, you’ll likely start encountering thicker, denser slabs. Look for these slabs on the leeward side of ridges, below cornices, on mid-slope convexities, and beneath  rock and cliff bands. Your best mitigation tool will be to use visual clues like blowing snow or textured surfaces to help you identify where the wind has been at work. Shooting cracks under your feet or sled clearly shows you found an unstable slab. You can easily avoid this problem by sticking to more sheltered terrain out of the wind zone. 

Avalanche Discussion

This system should deliver another 4-8 inches of low-density snow by early Sunday morning. Precipitation should taper early and make for a pleasant day out in the mountains.It's been a big week on Mt Hood, so ease into the terrain slowly. Storm instabilities should settle through the day, but still be on the lookout for cracking or new snow sliding easily before jumping into steeper slopes in more sheltered areas. You can use quick pits or small test slopes to gauge how the new snow is reacting. 

The 6-8 ft of new snow from this last week sits on a crust buried January 4th that did hold some weak snow on more shaded aspects above 6000 ft. This weak layer was likely responsible for the close call on Pea Gravel Ridge last week when backcountry skiers unintentionally triggered a D 2.5 hard slab (avalanche observation here). We have uncertainty regarding how these old, weak layers are adjusting to the new load. If you do venture to these elevations, make sure to dig down and complete your own assessment. At lower elevations, new snow basically fell on bareground.

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

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