Avalanche forecast

Mt Hood

Northwest Avalanche Center
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Avalanche danger

Thu
Alpine
3 · Considerable
Treeline
2 · Moderate
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Out of date — this forecast expired 3 years ago.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

Wednesday should be a nice day to be out, however you can still trigger large avalanches in pockets of wind drifted snow at mid and upper elevations. Avoid steep slopes that are actively loading or appear rounded and pillow-like. As the day warms up, keep an eye out for small wet loose avalanches on steep solar slopes.

Avalanche problems

  • Wind Slabs

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

    Wind slabs 1-3 ft thick may stay reactive to your weight on Wednesday. These slabs may range from hard to soft and should appear as somewhat textured and rounded. You’ll find these slabs lurking in specific areas such as the leeward side of ridges and moraines, under cornices, at the top of chutes/couloirs, and on convex alpine slopes. 

    Although you won’t want to search these things out, just consider avoiding slopes that fit this description. The good news is that you can use visual clues to help you identify slopes of concern. Look for blowing snow, cornice growth, ripples, or rounded pillows at the snow surface to identify where the wind has been at work. Pump the brakes and avoid steep slopes if you see obvious signs of instability such as shooting cracks under your skis/sled or notice snow that sounds hollow like a drum. You can easily avoid this problem by sticking to more sheltered terrain out of the wind zone. 

     

    (2/1/2023)

    Look for wind textured slopes to help you identify slopes of concern. 

    Photo: Andy Harrington

  • Loose Wet

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

    The sun is forecasted to come out, so you may encounter moist snow developing on solar aspects (W-SW-S-SE). The current upper snowpack is quite dry, so the sun may be a shock for the upper snowpack on a steep solar slopes. Rollerballs or pinwheels are precursors of wet loose avalanches. So think about moving to more shaded slopes out of the sun once you start seeing these signs. 

    On more shaded aspects (NW-N-NE-E), you will likely still encounter dry unconsolidated snow. In these areas dry loose sloughs may still be your bigger hazard in steep terrain. With this problem, have a plan before skiing into steeper rolls and make sure the run out is clean before committing to your line. 

    (4/22/2022)

    Rollerballs and pinwheels are signs that the snow surface is becoming wet and weak. 

    Photo: Ron Martin

Avalanche Discussion

Well March 1st is the official first day of meteorological spring, however, the current weather pattern says differently. So far the Meadows weather station has recorded a storm total of 27 inches (2.23 inches swe) since the 26th. On Tuesday morning the Mt Hood Meadows Pro Patrol triggered a couple  large avalanches (D2) with explosives. One of their bigger results on an ESE aspect at 6200 ft,  broke 18-24” deep and failed just above the new/old snow interface. 

In the following days keep your partners in close sight and give tree-wells a wider buffer than normal. It's deep out there! 

 

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