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.

The high pressure ridge over the region should bring another day of calm and mostly sunny weather with mountain high's in the low to mid 40's. A small, weak cold front approaching the region could begin to push some clouds into the skies today. Cloud cover and southwest winds should increase tonight and tomorrow as this weak front gets closer. Winds along the ridge lines could gust into the 60's by tomorrow.  The forecast calls for tomorrow's high temperatures to remain about 5-10 degrees cooler than today's. 

Recent Observations:

Spring conditions prevailed on Castle Peak (photo, more info) and on Jakes Peak (photo, snowpit, more info) yesterday. 2-5 inches of soft corn snow formed on top of a thick supportable melt-freeze crust on the SE-S-SW aspects in both of these areas. Observations did not reveal any signs of wet snow instabilities even during the warmest part of the day. Once the sun left the SE-S aspects on Jakes, the surface snow quickly refroze. A supportable surface crust formed within 30 minutes of the sun's departure. On the northerly aspects, a firm rain crust existed on the surface in most places on Castle and on Jakes. In some sheltered areas on Jakes Peak, this rain crust still had a dusting of soft cold snow on top of it. Below this rain crust a layer of softer weaker snow remains (snowpit from Jakes). Snowmobiles and people walking in boots could break through this crust, but the crust would support a person on skis or a snowboard. Snowpit data, ski cuts, hand pits, probing, and other general observations did not reveal any signs of instability in either of these areas yesterday.

Avalanche Concerns:

Avalanche activity will remain unlikely today. Today's sunshine should allow the snow surface to soften on the sun exposed southerly aspects. Even small isolated wet loose snow instabilities such as roller balls, pin wheels, or small point releases should remain unlikely due to the prolonged period of melt-freeze cycles and the relatively weak mid winter sun.  Unlikely does not mean impossible. Continue to be observant, watch for changing conditions, and practice safe travel habits when recreating in the backcountry.

The bottom line:

The avalanche danger remains LOW for all elevations and aspects. Continue to use normal caution when travelling in the backcountry.

Andy Anderson - Avalanche Forecaster, Tahoe National Forest

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

0600 temperature:	33-36 deg. F.
Max. temperature in the last 24 hours:	39-45 deg. F.
Average wind direction during the last 24 hours:	NE shifting to the SW
Average wind speed during the last 24 hours:	5-15 mph
Maximum wind gust in the last 24 hours:	28-36 mph
New snowfall in the last 24 hours:	O inches
Total snow depth:	54-80 inches

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

For 7000-8000 ft:
	Monday:	Monday Night:	Tuesday:
Weather:	Partly cloudy	Partly cloudy	Partly cloudy becoming mostly cloudy
Temperatures:	39-46 deg. F.	22-30 deg. F.	36-43 deg. F.
Wind direction:	Variable	Southwest	Southwest
Wind speed:	Light	0-5 mph increasing to 10-15 mph with gusts to 25 mph after midnight	15-25 mph with gusts to 40 mph
Expected snowfall:	O in.	O in.	O in.
For 8000-9000 ft:
	Monday:	Monday Night:	Tuesday:
Weather:	Partly cloudy	Partly cloudy	Partly cloudy becoming mostly cloudy
Temperatures:	38-45 deg. F.	23-30 deg. F.	29-36 deg. F.
Wind direction:	Variable	Southwest	Southwest
Wind speed:	Light	15-25 mph with gusts to 35 mph	30-40 mph with gusts to 50 mph increasing to 60 mph in the afternoon
Expected snowfall:	O in.	O in.	O in.