Avalanche forecast

Central Cascades

Central Oregon Avalanche Center
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Avalanche danger

Alpine
2 · Moderate
Treeline
2 · Moderate
Below
1 · Low
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Out of date — this forecast expired 5 years ago. You’re viewing past conditions, not the current bulletin.

Highlights

Shallow Wind Slab avalanches are possible for Monday in alpine terrain and at treeline.  The wind will continue to blow from the West overnight and transport any new snow that we receive.  With initially Strong winds and light snowfall amounts, depths of new snow will likely be highly variable.

Avalanche problems

  • Wind Slabs

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Possible
    Size
    1

    I'm hoping to wake up to a few inches of snow in the mountains tomorrow.  While wind speeds are expected to decrease overnight, they will still be high enough to move any new snow that we get.  When we do have Strong wind speeds it can be less predictable where the new snow ends up, so I expect we'll see highly variable depths of that new snow in windy terrain.  Shallow wind slabs are definitely possible particularly downwind from terrain that can act to funnel winds such as cols or saddles.  Overnight wind will continue to be from the West shifting to Northwest on Monday.

Avalanche Discussion

Several days of a good melt/freeze clycle came to an end today with a violent cold front that passed through our mountains, bringing Strong and Extreme winds, and cooler temperatures.  Our Wet avalanche problems came to an abrupt end and won't return until high pressure returns next week.  In the mean time we have the wind and potentially a few inches of snow to deal with.  It should be easy to locate the old snow layer beneath any light snowfall we get overnight.  We don't have any persistent weak layers in our current snowpack.

Regions covered