Mt Hood

A transition from the recent wet warm weather to dry warm weather will begin on Tuesday. You will need to watch for a variety of snow and avalanche conditions on Tuesday.

The upper ridge will begin to rebuild over the west US on Tuesday. At Mt Hood this should cause decreasing west winds with light showers decreasing Tuesday morning and ending Tuesday afternoon.

New wind slab from the storm on Monday maybe found mainly on steep NW to E slopes near ridges above treeline. Watch for firmer wind transported snow.

New storm slab seems possible where there is more than a few inches of snowfall in areas with light wind.

Any cooling will be limited Tuesday morning and temperatures will be on the rise again by Tuesday afternoon. More mostly small loose wet avalanches may be seen on steep mainly solar slopes.

As a result of the unseasonably low snowpack, especially at lower elevations, watch for terrain hazards such as open creeks, partially covered rocks and vegetation.

A series of fronts in an atmospheric river has been crossing the Northwest. Mt Hood has seen about 2 inches of WE mostly as rain from about February 5th-10th with about 10-12 inches of melting, consolidation and stabilizing of the snowpack.

No avalanches were seen or reported by the Mt Hood Meadows pro-patrol through Sunday afternoon with recent wet snow well bonded and not causing any significant loose wet problems near and below treeline.

But a filling low pressure system is crossing  mainly the south Cascades and Mt Hood area on Monday. This is causing the most wind and rain or snow in the far south Cascades and at Mt Hood on Monday. A brief minor drop in snow levels should be seen at Mt Hood Tuesday morning.

The mid and lower snowpack at Mt Hood should consist of layers of stable consolidated rounded grains or melt forms and crusts from multiple warm periods this winter.