Central Sierra Nevada
Peligro de aludes
Lo esencial
Avalanche activity remains unlikely. Widespread firm icy conditions present additional hazards for backcountry travelers today including long sliding falls. LOW avalanche danger exists for all elevations. Travel using normal caution and be willing to step back into safer terrain if conditions warrant.
Avalanche Discussion
Any wet snow that formed yesterday should have refrozen during the night. Expect firm icy surfaces on all aspects at all elevations this morning. Even though daytime highs may climb above freezing today, most areas should remain frozen. The days are short, and the weak January sun does not get high enough in the sky to allow for widespread softening. Some shallow and soft wet snow may form on the SE-S-SW aspects that get direct sun today. A few E and W aspects may also soften but many of them will likely remain frozen.
While avalanche activity remains unlikely today, the firm conditions present other hazards like uncontrollable, long, sliding falls. Plans that seek out sunny slopes with snow coverage and getting to them when they have softened could provide the best recreation on snow today. Getting to and from these slopes without encountering exposed ground or firm icy slopes may be challenging. If conditions start to exceed your group's comfort level, be willing to step back into more appropriate terrain.
Recent Observations:
* Yesterday observers reported firm icy conditions on most aspects on Pickett Peak (E of Carson Pass), Elephants Hump (Carson Pass), and Mt. Judah (Donner Summit). This rain crust remains widespread across all slopes and elevations in the forecast area.
* Southerly aspects that received direct sun during the day did soften some on Elephants Hump and Mt. Judah leaving a shallow layer of soft wet snow on top of the supportable base.
* Snow coverage on the sunny SE-S-SW aspects remains limited and exposed ground exists on many of these aspects.
* In the northern 2/3rds of the forecast area, snowpit tests indicate that the Dec 11 persistent weak layer has gone dormant. Some unstable snowpit test results continue to occur in the southern 1/3rd of the forecast area, especially on the eastern side of the Carson Pass and Ebbetts Pass areas, where the snowpack remains shallower and weaker. Yesterday observers reported unstable snowpit test results on Pickett Peak and on Elephants Hump.