Avalanche forecast

Eastside Region

Eastern Sierra Avalanche Center
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Avalanche danger

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Out of date — this forecast expired 4 months ago.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

Highlights

Approach avalanche terrain with caution and be skeptical about the stability of new snow. You’re more likely to trigger an avalanche large enough to bury you on the leeward side of ridges and in gullies. Use test slopes to look for shooting cracks and sluffing before heading into steep terrain. When in doubt, you can stick to low slope angles to minimize your exposure. 

Avalanche problems

  • Storm Slabs

    • Alpine
    • Treeline
    • Below treeline
    Likelihood
    Possible
    Size
    1–2.5

    You can find unstable storm snow, both slabs and sluffs, on steep terrain today. Especially where the wind or settlement has stiffened the surface, and where new snow has accumulated atop old melt-freeze crusts (as opposed to bare ground). Avalanches will be larger in the northern half of the forecast area and near the Crest, and on the downwind sides of ridges and in chutes. Approach avalanche terrain cautiously and use small test slopes to assess whether the snow is still unconsolidated or has a cohesive slab at the surface. Shooting cracks from your feet and recent avalanche crowns are warning signs that you’ve found unstable slabs. Even where the surface is incohesive, be ready to manage your sluff and avoid terrain traps where debris can pile up and confined features where you can’t let moving snow pass you by. You can avoid instabilities in the new snow by defaulting to lower-angled slopes and minimizing your exposure to steep terrain above you. 

    (4/12/2026)

    Shooting cracks in wind-drifted snow

    Photo: Eastern Sierra Avalanche Center

Avalanche Discussion

Periods of heavy snowfall yesterday continued overnight before diminishing early this morning. Forecasters found up to 2 feet of fresh snow in the June area yesterday. Ridgetop winds have been strong from the south. Over the past 2 days, several small slab avalanches were reported on leeward slopes above treeline, and forecasters in Mammoth got shooting cracks on the downwind side of features that promote drifting. The majority of observations noted small dry loose avalanches from the low-density, right-side-up nature of the storm snow. There has been some settlement overnight, and with temperatures 10 degrees warmer today, the new snow could consolidate even more. Warming temperatures could make the surface moist in places, and rollers are good indicators that sluffing is becoming more likely. 

The recent snow rests atop a layer of graupel from the 11th, with a hard melt-freeze crust underneath. At lower elevations and on solar aspects, the snow has barely covered the rock, logs, bushes, and bare ground that had melted out over the previous weeks. Obstacles are hard to see and descending below about 9,000 feet can be downright treacherous.

There is significant uncertainty in today’s forecast. Many weather stations have been unreliable since snowfall began on the 10th. While wind stations have reported strong winds from the south, few observers have been able to find unstable wind slabs, meaning the new snow is not behaving as expected. Increasing your margin of error by defaulting to simpler terrain is the best way to avoid unpleasant surprises. 

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