These observations document past conditions at a small and variable scale. They are not to be confused with an avalanche forecast. They come from a variety of sources. We can only vouch for the quality of those produced by the SAC forecasters and professional observers.
Date and time of observation or avalanche occurrence Location Region Observation Type Photos Snowpack, Avalanche, Weather Videos Snowpit videos (tests, etc) Observation made by
03/18/2022 - 13:00 Blue Lakes Carson Pass Area Snowpack Observation Professional Observer
03/18/2022 - 12:00 Mt. Tallac Desolation Wilderness Area (including Emerald Bay) Snowpack Observation Small sluff of wet snow on an E aspect at 9000 ft around noon. Supportable crust on N aspects below 8000 ft. Above 8000 ft the crust was only semi-supportable. Wind sculpted surfaces on exposed N and NE aspects at the upper elevations. Thin high clouds did not hinder today's warming. Shallow wet snow on top of a thin refrozen crust on top of a few more inches of wet snow on an E aspect at 9100 ft. Forecaster
03/17/2022 - 11:00 Tamarack Peak Mount Rose Area Snowpack Observation 10:45 am cloud cover. Pano looking S-W-N from South Lake Tahoe to Mount Rose. 1 cm of new snow from Tuesday in the area. Semi-supportable to supportable crust on Tamarack Peak. Semi-supportable to supportable crust on Tamarack Peak. Forecaster
03/16/2022 - 11:00 Flagpole Echo Summit Area Snowpack Observation Professional Observer
03/16/2022 - 10:15 Waterhouse Peak Luther Pass Area (including Job and Freel) Snowpack Observation Skies cleared rapidly over the forecast area this morning. Pano looking N-E-S from summit ridge of Waterhouse Pk. Breakable crust in many areas below about 8,400' to 8,600' on northerly aspects. Looking upslope from the pit profile location on a well shaded NW aspect just above 8,800'. Rollerballs forming off my turns descending sun exposed ENE aspect terrain around 9,000' at 11:15 am. Forecaster
03/15/2022 - 13:05 Elephant's Hump Carson Pass Area Snowpack Observation Looking across Red Lake at Red Lake Peak obscured by clouds. Boot penetration near the parking lot showing maybe an inch of new wet snow on top of very wet snow This north facing slope had impressive natural wet loose activity. My photo doesn't really capture the vertical extent of some of these rollerballs. Pit wall showing snow above old facet layer. I had repeatable ECTN results from the elbow failing on the old facet layer but not propagating. Several times there was intense snowfall with rimed new snow and small graupel but the snow melted quickly. Professional Observer
03/15/2022 - 12:30 Becker Peak Echo Summit Area Avalanche Observation Public
03/15/2022 - 11:00 Polaris Point and Stanford Rock Blackwood Canyon or Ward Canyon Area Avalanche Observation Intentionally triggered wet loose avalanche, size D1. Stanford Rock, NE aspect at 8,400'. Spreading out for more than one snowpit below Polaris Point at 7,300'. Repeatable propagation on Feb 14 layer at the upper pit, none at the lower pit. ECTP on the Feb 14 layer, about 1 foot below the snow surface. Forecaster
03/14/2022 - 12:00 Mt. Judah Donner Summit Area Snowpack Observation Tests on a wind loaded test slope. ECTP at the top where the wind loading was deepest. ECTN a few feet down the slope. A few more feet down the slope there was little wind loading. Roller balls and pinwheels on an ESE facing slope at 12:30 pm near the summit of Mt. Judah. Mostly cloudy skies this morning gave way to mostly sunny skies this afternoon. Scoured areas and wind drifted snow on Mt. Judah Forecaster
03/14/2022 - 12:00 Rubicon Peak Desolation Wilderness Area (including Emerald Bay) Snowpack Observation Public
03/13/2022 - 12:00 Andesite Ridge / Castle Peak Donner Summit Area Snowpack Observation Wind drifted snow near the Castle Peak ridgeline. The drift did not extend far down slope. Small wind slab on a wind-loaded test slope along Castle Ridge. The slope craked only after we undercut it and did not extend very far downslope. This was the largest wind slab we encountered on our tour. Intense blowing snow near the summit of Castle Peak 1 inch of new snow in a meadow at the start of our tour. ECTN on on the old faceted snow below the surface on a NW aspect Forecaster
03/13/2022 - 12:00 Genoa Peak East Shore Area Snowpack Observation Professional Observer
03/13/2022 - 09:12 Tamarack Mount Rose Area Snowpack Observation Stable wind deposited snow. Public
03/12/2022 - 14:00 The Nipple Carson Pass Area Snowpack Observation Professional Observer
03/12/2022 - 12:00 Relay and Tamarack Mount Rose Area Snowpack Observation Many areas of bare ground are exposed on S aspects Small skier triggered roller-balls and pinwheels on a SE aspect at 9700 ft. Small pockets of weaker snow existed in some shady patches on N facing slopes. ECTN 23 on the Feb 14 facets on a shady N aspect. Looking at the sunny aspects on Mt. Rose and Mt. Houghton Wind scoured and sculpted surfaces on an E aspect on Relay Peak. Forecaster

Pages