Mount Hood, located in Oregon, is the state’s tallest mountain, standing at over 11,000 feet. It’s known for being one of the snowiest places in the Pacific Northwest. The mountain itself is home to one of the longest ski seasons in The United States and Canada, with snow sticking around well into the summer. While snow is anticipated when it pertains to Mount Hood and the surrounding villages of Government Camp and Sandy, what isn’t anticipated is a blizzard.
Last week, on January 9 and 10, 2024, Mount Hood experienced its very first true blizzard since 2012. The blizzard brought several feet of snow accumulating in the area, coupled with winds exceeding 50 miles per hour. Even for a neighborhood prepared for large volumes of snow throughout a standard winter season, an accumulation of 3-5 feet in just 2 days can have some bigger impacts than an anticipated snowstorm.
Image by User 12019 through Pixabay For perspective, the typical yearly snowfall on the mountain as a whole is roughly 34 feet. The snow season on Mount Hood normally begins in October, and there have actually been snowfall days as late in the year as early summer season. Receiving 3-5 feet of snow in simply 24 hours is record breaking.
This storm brought snow as low as 1,400 feet. This triggered driving conditions to be unsafe for people living and operating in surrounding areas, with snowfall and extreme cold even at low elevations, combined with whiteouts in some locations. This storm also impacted the surrounding landscape and cities, including the nearby, windy Columbia River Gorge, which brought the snowfall to the city of Portland.
Photo by Harry Wegley Will Heavy Snowfall Conserve the Melting Glaciers? However, this amount of snow isn’t a bad thing. Mount Hood itself is home to 12 various glaciers and long-term snowfields, which have been gradually melting out over the years. The mountain needs the snow, and high volumes of it, for this stunning ancient ice to stay. In order for glaciers and snowfields to grow, there needs to be more snow in the winter season than there is snowmelt in the warmer months.
While this heavy quantity of snow isn’t a guaranteed save for our melting glaciers, it does bring some hope that the ones that are melting more rapidly– like Palmer– might remain for another year, particularly if the mountain continues to get high volumes of snow throughout the remainder of the winter.
Photo by Jim Black Is It Safe to Visit Mount Hood Right Now?
So, is it safe to visit Mount Hood today? Yes, and individuals are visiting in large numbers. In spite of rough conditions throughout the blizzard itself, this extremely rare storm has brought a few of the very best snow in years to the local ski resorts, including Timberline Lodge, Mount Hood Meadows, and Mount Hood Skibowl, which all opened several lifts after the storm last week. These resort openings and high levels of fresh snow have actually triggered skiers and snowboarders to flock to the mountain to experience this extraordinary phenomenon. This is quite the modification for these resorts, who have been suffering in recent years due to late winters and low snowfall. Timberline Lodge, which hosts among the longest ski seasons in the nation got over 5 feet of snow in simply 24 hr.
If you are going, simply make sure to bring your tire chains up with you– you never ever know what weather you’ll experience on the mountain.
After years of late-season snow and over a decade without a storm like this, Mount Hood is covered in multiple feet of snow as soon as again, exceeding as the mountain’s first real blizzard in over 10 years, and with mainly unpredictable weather condition patterns throughout the country this winter season, it’s tough to tell what the remainder of the season might bring to the cascades of the Pacific Northwest.
Last week, on January 9 and 10, 2024, Mount Hood experienced its first blizzard in over ten years, bringing 5 feet of snow to the mountain.