Central Sierra Nevada

Early season conditions continue with a shallow snowpack throughout the forecast area.  Avalanche activity remains unlikely at this point.  Use extra caution if traveling in the backcountry to avoid hitting the many obstacles present.

Normal caution

A shallow snowpack of 1 to 2 feet deep exists on most shaded northerly aspects with 1 foot or less on more sun exposed terrain.  Strong SW winds today with light snow showers could cause some light blowing snow in wind exposed locations.  With minimal new snow amounts forecasted and limited existing snow available for wind transport, no wind slab development is expected.  Snow surface conditions have deteriorated with variable conditions on most all wind and sun exposed terrain.  More consistent snow surface conditions exist on shaded and wind protected near treeline and below treeline areas. 

The long nights and low sun angles this time of year have increased the faceting process of the snowpack during this recent dry spell since our last storms weeks ago.  Even with mild daytime temperatures, the snowpack on northerly aspects has been turning more sugary and less supportive during this time frame.  While this is not currently an issue for avalanche stability, with larger storms now in the forecast, our weak snowpack structure could have issues supporting additional snow loads.   

There are a lot of obstacles that are on the snow surface or just slightly buried beneath the shallow snowpack-rocks, bushes, tree stumps, open water, dirt, etc.  Extra caution should be used if recreating in the backcountry.