Central Sierra Nevada

As the day warms up, wet snow may form on sunny slopes sheltered from the wind at mid and low elevations. Windy areas up high may stay more frozen. Avalanches are unlikely. 

New snow and wind tonight could increase the avalanche danger tomorrow.

Normal caution

Warm temperatures at the upper elevations and some cloud cover produced a weaker refreeze in some areas last night. A stronger overnight refreeze should have occurred in valleys where cold air collected and in areas with less cloud cover. Today's strong SW winds will help keep the snow surfaces cooler in wind-exposed areas, but the sun and warm temperatures should still allow some wet surface snow to form. More wet snow will develop on sunny mid and low-elevation SE-S-SW aspects, while some wind-exposed upper elevation slopes may remain mostly firm and frozen today. Today's warming should not create enough wet snow for any significant wet loose instabilities. Avalanche activity remains unlikely.

Before you head out, talk to your partners and make a plan to target terrain and conditions more likely to be fun and safe for your group. Keep those lines of communication open while you travel so that your group can remain nimble and adjust to unexpected conditions. New snow and wind during the night could introduce new avalanche problems (like wind slabs and storm slabs) tomorrow depending on how much snow accumulates during the night. Check back in tomorrow morning for the latest avalanche forecast before rushing out to enjoy the new snow. 

Recent Observations:

• Snowmelt has sped up over the last two weeks exposing more obstacles (rocks, bushes, etc) and areas of bare ground on SE-S-SW aspects.
• Highly variable snow surface conditions exist across the forecast area with smooth to very rough snow surfaces. Expect to encounter anything from firm ice to soft cold snow to wet snow.
• A well-bonded and consolidated snowpack exists across nearly all aspects and elevations. Gradual near-surface faceting has created weak snow in the top portion of the snowpack on many wind-protected and semi-wind protected NW-N-NE aspects. A new snow load is needed on top of this developing weak layer before slab avalanche problems occur.