Avalanche forecast

Central Sierra Nevada

Sierra Avalanche Center
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Avalanche danger

Alpine
1 · Low
Treeline
1 · Low
Below
1 · Low
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Out of date — this forecast expired 12 years ago. You’re viewing past conditions, not the current bulletin.

Highlights

Avalanche danger remains LOW for all elevations and aspects. Normal caution is advised. A powerful storm system moving into the forecast area is expected to create increased avalanche danger this weekend.

Avalanche problems

  • Cornices

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Unlikely
    Size
    1

    Despite above freezing air temperatues, a decent snow surface refreeze is expected to have occurred last night driven by radiational cooling under partly cloudy skies. Areas of surface wet snow are likely to form today, but convective cooling from strong to gale force winds, increasing cloud cover, and well established snowpack drainage are expected to keep any areas of instability from forming. Icy surfaces combined with gale force winds may make travel difficult in upper elevation and ridgetop areas.

Avalanche Discussion

Recent observations from around the forecast area have shown that the snowpack is generally in good condition to handle new loading from rain and snow. Free water drainage from the snowpack is well established in the vast majority of areas below 8,000'. Near surface layers consist of a mix of well established melt-freeze on SE-S-SW aspects and a well bonded mix of crusts, rounds and rounding facets on W-NW-N-NE-E aspects. On some of these more northerly aspects rain and melt-freeze crusts are at the snow surface and in other areas they are buried several inches down. Some NW-N-NE aspect locations hold a notable layer of lower density rounding facets below the thickest rain crust in the upper third of the snowpack. This layer has been a focus for monitoring during the month of January and has yet to show signs that it will be problematic during the upcoming storm cycle. That said, it will remain a layer to watch once new snow loading begins.

Regions covered