Several backcountry skiers are missing after an avalanche hit northern California on Tuesday, authorities said.
According to the Nevada County Sheriff’s Office, search crews responded to a report of an avalanche in the Green Mountains area of the Sierra Nevada Mountains around noon Tuesday.
“A group of backcountry skiers was reportedly involved in this incident and several members are currently missing,” the Sheriff’s Office said.
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Search and rescue operations are underway for up to 10 people who may have been involved in the avalanche, said Brandon Schwartz, director of the Sierra Avalanche Center, which predicts possible avalanches in areas around Lake Tahoe.
Schwartz told ABC News that rescuers faced very difficult conditions, including avalanche danger, with 2 to 3 feet of new snow accumulating in the area in the past 36 hours, and more snow falling at a rate of 2 to 4 inches per hour.
The Sierra Avalanche Center said there was “high” avalanche danger in the backcountry Tuesday.
“Rapid snow accumulation, weak layers of existing snow, and strong winds that blow and drift snow create dangerous avalanche conditions in the mountains,” the center said. “Natural avalanches are possible, and human-induced avalanches are also likely to be large enough to bury or injure people.”
Brooke Hess-Homeier/AP – Photo: Snow falls on February 17, 2026 in Truckee, California.
The Sierra Avalanche Center has issued an avalanche warning for the central Sierra Nevada between Yuba Pass to the north and Ebbets Pass to the south, including the greater Lake Tahoe area, until Wednesday morning.
“Large avalanches are expected to occur in backcountry areas Tuesday and Tuesday night and at least into early Wednesday morning,” the center said, advising against traveling in, near or beneath backcountry avalanche areas. “High avalanche danger may continue throughout Wednesday.”
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Snowy conditions were reported in the area where the avalanche occurred.
The California Highway Patrol’s Truckee office warned that high winds are “creating completely whiteout conditions” across Donner Peak.
Interstate 80 on Donner Peak was closed in both directions Tuesday due to heavy snow and poor visibility.
