Central Sierra Nevada

Most avalanche activity should remain unlikely today. Some small, shallow areas of wind-drifted snow may lurk on isolated terrain features where new snow fell yesterday, so keep those in mind when making plans. Monitor the conditions and terrain as you travel. If you see any signs of unstable snow, like cracks in the snow or unexpected conditions, choose a different route.

Normal caution

Plan your travel to manage variable snow by using a variety of aspects and elevations to find terrain and conditions that match your group's skills and goals. Yesterday's limited amount of snow or rain did little to change the avalanche conditions. A few areas may hold small pockets of wind-drifted snow that could cause issues when combined with a terrain trap, like a cliff. Pay attention and adjust your plans if you see signs of unstable snow, such as cracks in the snow, or if you encounter unexpected or unwanted conditions.

Warmth in most areas and new precipitation in some areas led to some small roller-balls and even a sluff of loose wet snow yesterday. In higher elevation areas (like the Mt. Rose backcountry) where new snow fell, wind-blown snow may have formed some small snow drifts. Clearing last night should have allowed some refreeze, and areas that were wet yesterday afternoon may feel firmer this morning. As the day warms up, sunny slopes should soften, and some roller balls or minor sluffs of wet snow may happen, but larger wet snow instabilities should still remain unlikely. In those places with wind-blown snow, the limited amount of new snow (only up to an inch) should keep wind drifts shallow and small, and they may only extend a foot or two from ridges. The main effect of the thin layer of new snow will be to hide some of the old variable snow surfaces and obstacles in some places. Snow conditions will remain a mix of wind-sculpted surfaces on exposed slopes, spring-like melt-freeze conditions on sunny slopes, and some areas of soft, weak surface snow on N aspects without previous tracks. Crusts and transitional snow also exist on many of the in-between aspects with uneven surfaces on previously tracked slopes.  

Deep open holes, open creeks, and ponded water persist around the forecast area, especially below 8,000' in low-lying areas, but some lurk at higher elevations as well.