Mt Hood

A consolidating and stabilizing trend will continue on Saturday. Remember to discuss plans and maintain visual contact with your partners.

An upper ridge will shift over the Northwest on Saturday. This should cause light winds and fair weather on Saturday with freezing levels staying low in the Olympics and Cascades. Some high clouds should be seen by Saturday afternoon from a weak system that will approach Saturday night.

This weather will bring further consolidating and further stabilizing on Saturday. Cool temperatures may somewhat slow the stabilizing but the avalanche danger will be less than the previous few days.

Recent wind slab will be most likely to linger on north to east slopes in the above tree line. Wind and storm slab avalanches should stay within recent storm layers but could still move fast. Test for inverted strong over weak storm snow and give cornices a wide margin.

Beware of loose dry avalanches in steep non-wind affected terrain that could have unintended consequences such as knocking you off your feet and into a terrain trap.

Remember to discuss plans and maintain visual contact with your partners. Recent unconsolidated storm snow is very deep in many places with possible very large tree wells. There have been snow immersion fatalities in tree wells already this season at Snoqualmie and in Canada.

We have had about a week of heavy snow and cool temperatures in the Olympics and Cascades. NWAC sites at Mt Hood have had about 6-7 FEET of snowfall during this time!

Recent pro back country or pro patrol observations indicate extensive avalanches but confined to recent storm snow.

NWAC pro observer Laura Green was touring Wednesday in remote parts of the Mt Hood Meadows ski area and reported widespread, sensitive storm slab of 1-2 feet on north to east slopes in the 4500-6000 range.

Laura was out again on Thursday in Heather Canyon and noted that settlement, cold temperatures and declining winds were aiding in increasing stability and awesome skiing. Tests still indicated storm layers at 15-30 cm with sensitive remotely triggered wind slab seen on a north-northeast slope at 7000 feet.