Central Sierra Nevada

Hitting one of the rocks, stumps, logs, trees, bushes, etc, poking through the shallow snow presents more of a hazard than avalanches do today. The few places with snow barely have enough for people to recreate on. The avalanche danger could increase when new snow falls on top of the existing weak snow.

Snow coverage remains limited across the forecast area. Most places still have widespread areas of exposed ground, especially on the more sun-exposed aspects (SE-S-SW-W aspects) and in NE wind-exposed areas where strong NE winds scoured snow away from the slopes. Some snow coverage does exist on the NW-N-NE aspects, especially in areas sheltered from the NE winds above about 8000 ft. In some of these places, 1 to 2 feet of snow exists. This snow has become a mix of crusts and weak, sugary snow (facets). In some places, the surface crusts remain supportable, and in others, they have become breakable crusts. Weak feathery snow grains (surface hoar) have also formed on the snow surface in some places. Adding more snow on top of this weak snowpack could create avalanche problems. 

Early season conditions exist with many obstacles (rocks, bushes, logs, open water, etc.) exposed or barely covered. Hitting one of these hazards could easily end your season before it even begins.  If you are traveling on snow for recreation, you should come up with a daily plan based on the current conditions and carry your normal backcountry kit including avalanche rescue gear (avalanche transceiver, probe, shovel).