Donner Pass

Rain was falling steady with gale force winds as we went up Old Hwy 40 to Donner Pass this morning.  On the drive up, we saw multiple waterfalls and wet loose avalanches coming off the steeper cliffs and rocks above the road. The nearby Central Sierra Snow Lab had recorded just over 1'' of rain by midday.  The upper snowpack was saturated with wet to very wet snow.  Below this upper layer of rain soaked snow, was a layer of dryer snow below.  This setup varied with terrain, but it was interesting that there was still dryer snow that was present in the upper snowpack at that point in the storm.  We saw many roller balls and pinwheels on most steeper slopes with some larger wet loose avalanches.  More avalanche activity is expected as more rain falls, further weakening the snowpack. 

Travel conditions were deep wet snow that was slow and sticky.