Avalanche forecast

Central Sierra Nevada

Sierra Avalanche Center
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Avalanche danger

Thu
Alpine
2 · Moderate
Treeline
2 · Moderate
Below
2 · Moderate
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Out of date — this forecast expired 4 years ago. You’re viewing past conditions, not the current bulletin.

Highlights

As the sun comes out today, melt is expected to create wet surface snow on sun exposed slopes. Watch out for areas of unstable wet surface snow in sun exposed avalanche terrain. Exercise caution in or below avalanche terrain and consider exiting the area when signs of unstable wet snow such as rollerballs, pinwheels, or recent avalanches are occurring.

Avalanche problems

  • Loose Wet

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Possible
    Size
    1–1.5

    Widespread crusted snow surfaces are expected early this morning following an overnight refreeze of yesterday's rain and wet snowfall. As cloud cover clears today, snow surface melt is expected to occur on sun exposed slopes. This will mainly cause concern for avalanche terrain across ENE-SE-S-SW-WNW aspects. Wet loose snow avalanches, mostly triggered by backcountry travelers are possible today.

    Areas of unstable snow are expected to develop as the day progresses, especially during the late morning and afternoon hours. Signs of potentially unstable wet snow such as rollerballs, pinwheels, or recent wet loose avalanches indicate that it is time to exercise increased caution in or below avalanche terrain. When signs of unstable snow are present, consider exiting the area. Even a small avalanche can become consequential when occurring on long open slopes, above rocks or cliffs, or into a terrain trap.

Avalanche Discussion

  • Snowmelt on SE-S-SW aspects has exposed bare ground in many areas. Over snow travel options are limited on these aspects.
  • A layer of old near-surface facets was buried on Feb 14 and is now around a foot below the snow surface on some NW-N-NE aspects. While there appear to be isolated pockets in well-shaded areas where this layer may still be able to collapse and propagate, weak layer strength continues to increase in the majority of areas. With a more substantial new snow loading event possible this weekend, we are continuing to monitor this layer.

Regions covered