This avalanche advisory is provided through a partnership between the Tahoe National Forest and the Sierra Avalanche Center. This advisory covers the Central Sierra Nevada Mountains between Yuba Pass on the north and Ebbetts Pass on the south. Click here for a map of the forecast area. This advisory applies only to backcountry areas outside established ski area boundaries. This advisory describes general avalanche conditions and local variations always occur. This advisory expires 24 hours after the posted time unless otherwise noted. The information in this advisory is provided by the USDA Forest Service who is solely responsible for its content.


This Avalanche Advisory was published on November 30, 2006:

November 30, 2006 at 1:00 am

Forecast Discussion:

This advisory was posted on Thursday, November 30, 2006 at 1:30 pm

Our SAC Ski Day tickets are now available. This year they can be bought online thanks to Snowbomb.com (just click on the link above). What a great way to do some skiing or riding and support your avalanche center. Our first one is at Mt. Rose on December 17th. We hope to see you there.

Overnight we saw the temperatures warming up and the winds moderating. This trend is expected to continue for the next few days. As the snow pack starts to adjust to the warmer temps, you may see some small, loose, surface slides in the new snow layers from the recent storm. The warming trend will also begin to heal the weakness in the snow pack. We have already seen some settlement as the snow starts to compress and form stronger bonds. If these temperatures stick around long enough we may even be able to reverse some of the faceting in the bottom of the pack. The stronger bonding also means less snow will be available for wind transport, which will let us keep more snow more evenly distributed on the ground.

The warmth will form some melt freeze and sun crusts throughout the forecast area. They will be most prevalent and thickest on the southerly aspects. On the shaded northerly aspects expect much less crust formation. The longer it stays warm the thicker, stronger and more widespread these crusts will be. In the future this could be both a blessing and a curse. The blessing will be if the crusts become strong enough to support us and help keep us off some of the buried obstacles. The curse will be that these crusts will be very smooth layers that could provide an excellent bed surface for an avalanche during our next cold storm.

There are stumps, rocks, creeks (brrrr), downed trees, and all sorts of other things for you to hit with your snowmobile, skis, snowboard, or in the worst case some part of your body lurking just below the snow surface. If you do get out be careful and please let us know what you see.

Andy Anderson, Avalanche Forecaster

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Today's Central Sierra Weather Observations:
0600 temperature at Sierra Crest (8,700 feet): 25 deg. F
Max. temperature at Sierra Crest past 24 hours: 35 deg. F
Average wind direction at Sierra Crest past 24 hours: Northwest
Average wind speed at Sierra Crest past 24 hours: 15 mph
Maximum wind gust at Sierra Crest past 24 hours: 20 mph
New snow fall at 8,200 feet past 24 hours: 0 inches
Total snow depth at 8,200 feet: 11 inches

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Mountain Weather Forecast For Today:
MOSTLY SUNNY
Temperature forecast for 8,000 to 9,000 feet: 40 deg. F
Ridgetop winds forecast for the Sierra Crest: NORTHWEST WINDS 10 TO 15
Snowfall expected in the next 24 hours: 0 inches

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2 Day Weather Forecast:
7000 TO 8000 FEET
TODAY MOSTLY SUNNY IN THE MORNING THEN BECOMING PARTLY CLOUDY. NORTHWEST WINDS 10 TO 15 MPH. HIGHS AROUND 40.
TONIGHT MOSTLY CLEAR. NORTHWEST WINDS 10 TO 15 MPH. LOWS 18 TO 26.
FRIDAY MOSTLY SUNNY. NORTH WINDS 10 TO 15 MPH. HIGHS AROUND 45.
ABOVE 8000 FEET
TODAY MOSTLY SUNNY IN THE MORNING THEN BECOMING PARTLY CLOUDY. NORTHWEST WINDS 15 TO 25 MPH. HIGHS AROUND 38.
TONIGHT MOSTLY CLEAR. NORTHWEST WINDS 20 TO 30 MPH. LOWS AROUND 23.
FRIDAY MOSTLY SUNNY. NORTHWEST WINDS 15 TO 25 MPH WITH GUSTS UP TO 50 MPH IN THE AFTERNOON. HIGHS 40 TO 46.

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The bottom line:


Andy Anderson - Avalanche Forecaster, Tahoe National Forest

Weather Observations from along the Sierra Crest between 8200 ft and 8800 ft:

0600 temperature: deg. F.
Max. temperature in the last 24 hours: deg. F.
Average wind direction during the last 24 hours:
Average wind speed during the last 24 hours: mph
Maximum wind gust in the last 24 hours: mph
New snowfall in the last 24 hours: O inches
Total snow depth: inches

Two-Day Mountain Weather Forecast - Produced in partnership with the Reno NWS

For 7000-8000 ft:
  Thursday: Thursday Night: Friday:
Weather:
Temperatures: deg. F. deg. F. deg. F.
Wind direction:
Wind speed:
Expected snowfall: O in. O in. O in.

For 8000-9000 ft:
  Thursday: Thursday Night: Friday:
Weather:
Temperatures: deg. F. deg. F. deg. F.
Wind direction:
Wind speed:
Expected snowfall: O in. O in. O in.