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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Jan 26th, 2019–Jan 27th, 2019

Alpine
Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.
Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.
Below Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.
Alpine
Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.
Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.
Below Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely, human triggered possible.

Regions

Mt Hood.

The Bottom Line: You can trigger a Loose Wet avalanche where direct sunshine and very warm temperatures combine with light winds to break down the surface crust. Wet snow that you can penetrate to ankle deep or greater should encourage retreat to slopes less than 35 degrees or less sun-affected aspects and away from terrain traps or terrain hazards.

Snow and Avalanche Discussion

We didn’t expect the 0.5-1” thick water ice crust to break down on Saturday, but it did. Slide for life conditions were a very real threat on Mt. Hood on Friday and on Saturday, an observer reported soft surface conditions on a variety of sun-influenced aspects that were deep enough to produce a loose wet avalanche. A crust should re-form Saturday night and we expect it to break down once again with similarly warm and sunny weather present once again, assuming winds stay light. You may encounter very slick or soft snow surfaces and winds are the major determining factor.

Cornices have been growing in the terrain. You are most likely to find them overhanging northerly slopes or on the edge of gully features. Don’t linger below these cornices on Saturday as the sun begins to warm them.

Problems

Loose Wet

Loose Wet avalanches are the release of wet unconsolidated snow or slush. These avalanches typically occur within layers of wet snow near the surface of the snowpack, but they may quickly gouge into lower snowpack layers. Like Loose Dry Avalanches, they start at a point and entrain snow as they move downhill, forming a fan-shaped avalanche. Other names for loose-wet avalanches include point-release avalanches or sluffs. Loose Wet avalanches can trigger slab avalanches that break into deeper snow layers.