Sierra Avalanche Center
No zone carries a current rating. Sierra Avalanche Center is between seasons. The last daily forecast was issued April 14, 2026.
The zones on the map
Each zone in its highest rating for the day while the rating is current. Select one for its forecast.
- 1 Low
- 2 Moderate
- 3 Considerable
- 4 High
- 5 Extreme
- Information, no rating
- No current forecast
Zones
| Zone | Danger | Valid |
|---|---|---|
| Central Sierra Nevada | Off season | Last forecast April 14, 2026 |
The season on record
Days forecast at each level across the center’s zones in its most recent season, counting each zone’s highest rating once per day. History, not a forecast.
- Website
- sierraavalanchecenter.org
- Based in
- Truckee, CA
- Operated as
- A USDA Forest Service avalanche center
- Weather partners
- NWS Reno, NV
What this means
| Danger level | Travel advice | Likelihood of avalanches | Size and distribution |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 Low | Generally safe avalanche conditions. Watch for unstable snow on isolated terrain features. | Natural and human-triggered avalanches unlikely. | Small avalanches in isolated areas or extreme terrain. |
| 2 Moderate | Heightened avalanche conditions on specific terrain features. Evaluate snow and terrain carefully; identify features of concern. | Natural avalanches unlikely; human-triggered avalanches possible. | Small avalanches in specific areas; or large avalanches in isolated areas. |
| 3 Considerable | Dangerous avalanche conditions. Careful snowpack evaluation, cautious route-finding and conservative decision-making essential. | Natural avalanches possible; human-triggered avalanches likely. | Small avalanches in many areas; or large avalanches in specific areas; or very large avalanches in isolated areas. |
| 4 High | Very dangerous avalanche conditions. Travel in avalanche terrain not recommended. | Natural avalanches likely; human-triggered avalanches very likely. | Large avalanches in many areas; or very large avalanches in specific areas. |
| 5 Extreme | Avoid all avalanche terrain. | Natural and human-triggered avalanches certain. | Large to very large avalanches in many areas. |
The ratings are the North American Public Avalanche Danger Scale, the five levels every US and Canadian avalanche center forecasts in. A center rates each elevation band of a zone separately: above treeline (the alpine), near treeline, and below treeline, because wind, sun and snow differ with height. The zone's color on a map is its highest band. A forecast is issued in the morning for that day and expires, usually that evening or the next morning; after that it says nothing about the snow, which is why this site never shows a rating past its expiry.
An avalanche problem is what the center expects to release: its type (wind slab, storm slab, persistent slab, deep persistent slab, wet slab, loose dry, loose wet, cornice, glide), where on the mountain (aspect and elevation), how likely it is to be triggered, and how large it could be, on the destructive size scale from D1 (relatively harmless to people) to D5 (the largest known).
Most avalanches that catch people release on slopes of 30 to 45 degrees. The live map's slope angle layer shades those slopes, so the terrain a forecast warns about can be found on a map before a trip.
Other centers
- Bridgeport Avalanche Center
- Bridger-Teton Avalanche Center
- Central Oregon Avalanche Center
- Chugach National Forest Avalanche Center
- Coastal Alaska Avalanche Center
- Colorado Avalanche Information Center
- Cordova Avalanche Center
- Eastern Alaska Range Avalanche Center
- Eastern Sierra Avalanche Center
- Eastern Wyoming Avalanche Info Exchange
- Flathead Avalanche Center
- Gallatin NF Avalanche Center
- Haines Avalanche Center
- Hatcher Pass Avalanche Center
- Idaho Panhandle Avalanche Center
- Kachina Peaks Avalanche Center
- Mount Shasta Avalanche Center
- Mount Washington Avalanche Center
- New York State Avalanche Center
- Northwest Avalanche Center
- Payette Avalanche Center
- Sawtooth Avalanche Center
- Southern Oregon Avalanche Info Exchange
- Taos Avalanche Center
- Utah Avalanche Center
- Valdez Avalanche Center
- Wallowa Avalanche Center
- West Central Montana Avalanche Center
The forecast is Sierra Avalanche Center’s, a USDA Forest Service avalanche center, published through avalanche.org. The center’s own forecast for Central Sierra Nevada is the authoritative copy; read it before you go. Avalanche forecasts describe general conditions across a whole zone. They cannot say whether one slope is safe: that takes avalanche training, rescue gear, and your own observations. Weather from the National Weather Service; snowpack from USDA NRCS SNOTEL.