Sierra Avalanche Center | Backcountry Avalanche, Snow, and Weather Information for the greater Lake Tahoe area

We will publish our last avalanche forecast for the 2018/2019 season on Sunday April 21st. Thank you to all who have supported the avalanche center through volunteer hours, field observations, and financial support.
Before the winter is completely over, we want to hear your thoughts on how avalanche forecasts could be more useful for you. Click here to participate in a survey about avalanche safety (... Read more

Most Current Avalanche Forecast:

Thursday, April 18th, 2019

Recent Observations:

D1 loose wet on an E facing slope on Stevens

Skier triggered rollerballs and pinwheels

Boot top deep wet snow with a ski supportable but not boot supportable crust.

Wind affected colder snow on the ridge above 9300 ft.

Stevens Peak

04/17/2019 - 11:30

Intentionally skier triggered loose wet avalanche size D1.5. E aspect, 8500', 35 + degree slope.

Small roller ball activity from ski turns involving the recent 3-4'' of new snow.

Below 8000' at 10am, 2-3'' of new snow on top of 4F wet snow. Little to no overnight refreeze at lower elevations below 8000'.

Minor cracking in wind loaded terrain. Wind transported snow was limited to near ridgelines and did not extend downslope very far.

E face of Crag Peak. Small D1 natural loose wet avalanches that occurred by 11am this morning.

Hidden Peak

04/16/2019 - 11:00

Less than an inch of new snow just below 8000 feet.

Above tree line there was very minor cracking in wind loaded areas.

Small cohesive chunks broke on test slopes, but no larger propagation observed.

Powderhouse Peak

04/16/2019 - 09:30

Mostly cloudy skies with some partial sun breaks.

8000', E aspect, at 11:15am. 1-2'' of soft wet snow on top of a 2'' 1f MF crust on top of more wet snow.

04/15/2019 - 11:30

Angora Peak

04/14/2019 - 14:00

Mostly cloudy skies with some sun breaks.

Looking south along the Crest through the Tahoe Basin. Potentially more sun further south.

Thick cloud cover to the west of the Silver Peak at 11:20am.

Silver Peak

04/14/2019 - 11:30

Luther Pass

04/13/2019 - 14:30

Fully boot supportable 9 inch thick K hard crust at 6,560' at 9:40 am.

Still ski supportable but not boot supportable 9 inch thick 1F hard crust at 7,420' at 10:15 am.

Fractures behind cornices, common in this climate.

Johnson Canyon

04/13/2019 - 11:00

Large debris from previous wet slide

Many previous wet slides

Another previous wet slide

04/13/2019 - 07:00

Announcements and News:

Final forecast of the 2018/2019 season.

We will publish our last avalanche forecast for the 2018/2019 season on Sunday April 21st. Thank you to all who have supported the avalanche center through volunteer hours, field observations, and financial support...

Help us make the avalanche forecasts work better for you!

Before the winter is completely over, we want to hear your thoughts on how avalanche forecasts could be more useful for you. Click here to participate in a survey...

More

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