Current conditions

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balzaccom
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Re: Current conditions

Post by balzaccom »

TahoeJeff wrote: Wed Apr 14, 2021 7:20 am I wonder if the OPs ranger buddy told him that last night the snow line dropped way down and we now have 3"-4" of freshie at lake level????
As the OP...

He wrote me last night to let me know that they had some snow yesterday, and he hoped for more last night. But from what he is seeing, the ground is not saturated at this point, and what melts seems to be going into the ground, more than it's running off. He's concerned that while this snow will help replenish the aquifers, he's concerned that it will be hard to fill reservoirs this summer. The spring run-off should be less than normal, both because the ground isn't saturated yet, and there still isn't nearly enough snow---still only about 55% of normal.

I'll post the report from Tuolumne Meadows once it goes live on the website.
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Re: Current conditions

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In this thread I learned that people who live around Tahoe are not particularly very pleasant to converse with.
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Re: Current conditions

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schmalz wrote: Thu Apr 15, 2021 10:39 am In this thread I learned that people who live around Tahoe are not particularly very pleasant to converse with.
C9 lives in the bay area. It's true TahoeJeff made a snarky remark. Pretty sure I just posted actual facts. Lumping people together by an irrelevant trait is... hmmm... I think there's a word for that.
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Re: Current conditions

Post by Wandering Daisy »

Do not count your chickens until hatched. Speculation is fun and everyone has an observation. In 2008 (99% snow year), I did a mid-April trip in Yosemite, with little snow. Then Memorial Day (5/31) a brief freak snow storm hit, Tioga Road closed for 2 days. When we started from Tenaya Lake, we wallowed in fresh snow for miles. I think Tioga Road has closed temporarily after it officially opened a few other times too.

Lower elevation snowmelt may well seep into the ground, since it likely will melt for weeks when it does not freeze at night. At higher elevations, regardless of soil moisture, if the ground is frozen, it will not go into the soil. What the ranger said is true for the big picture runoff to reservoirs, but could also be good for the forests on the west slopes, hopefully giving the trees more moisture and maybe avoid a bad fire year. As for backpackers, conditions are extremely local depending on where you go. I just plan my trips, go prepared for snow, and have a flexible plan. And thankfully most HST members are quick at putting up condition reports when they get back.

I just talked to a friend in Wyoming- they just got over a foot of snow, on the ground, in town at 5000 feet. I think the bit of snow we got in the Sierra is part of this larger storm system. The NOAA snow web site also showed a bit of snow fell in the southern Sierra.
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Re: Current conditions

Post by balzaccom »

I just heard from a contact in Yosemite that the Tuolumne Meadows store has plans to open (as of now, with Daisy's caveat in mind) in late May (27 or 28) ...which means the Tioga Road will be open then too. Again, caveats all around, but that is really early.

And yes, I've been snowed on in Yosemite over Memorial Day at 5,0000 feet...
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Re: Current conditions

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Re: Current conditions

Post by Wandering Daisy »

https://www.nps.gov/yose/planyourvisit/seasonal.htm

This link shows the opening dates for Tioga Pass. I do not think May 28 is all that early- it has opened end of May or first week in June more years than not.

And last year, I believe it opened late because of COVID rules or something like that. I heard there was quite a squawk from Lee Vining to get it open because it was choking off business.
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Re: Current conditions

Post by balzaccom »

here is the final report from the Tuolumne Meadows Wilderness rangers:

New snow: 2 inches
Total settled snow depth: 23 inches (at 8,600 feet)
High temperature: 56°F (April 11)
Low temperature: 15°F (April 15)
Winter 2021 Weather Summary
(November 1, 2020-April 15, 2021)
Total Snow: 213 inches
Snow Water Equivalent: 13.24 inches
Average Temperature: 30.64°F

This is our final post of the winter of 2021. It has again been our honor to serve as the Tuolumne Meadows Winter Rangers. We appreciate the public interest and enthusiasm for happenings in this part of the park during the winter through our weekly blogs. Although it has been another dry winter in the range of light, each winter has been different in its own right, presenting its own challenges and rewards.

This week saw the continued and accelerated snowmelt in the Sierra. Well-above-average temperatures have been the rule this month. The last few days saw a system come through that cooled things down and brought a few inches of new snow.

Tioga Road is mostly snow covered through Yosemite National Park from Tioga Pass to Crane Flat. Bare patches are growing with each passing day. Crews will be starting to clear snow in the park. On the east side, Caltrans has cleared most of the snow from Highway 120 between the locked gate outside of Lee Vining and Tioga Pass. At present, it is dry pavement with a few icy patches early and late in the day.

Ski conditions are still decent, though options are becoming more limited due to decreasing snow cover. Terrain and aspects above 9,000 feet are hit or miss for corn snow. One would think that the warm and dry weather we are having would see a stellar corn cycle. The windy winter, and low snow density of what fell from the sky this winter, however, have kept it pretty marginal so far this spring.
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Re: Current conditions

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Wandering Daisy wrote: Thu Apr 15, 2021 7:38 pm https://www.nps.gov/yose/planyourvisit/seasonal.htm

This link shows the opening dates for Tioga Pass. I do not think May 28 is all that early- it has opened end of May or first week in June more years than not.

And last year, I believe it opened late because of COVID rules or something like that. I heard there was quite a squawk from Lee Vining to get it open because it was choking off business.
You are right Daisy--Median and Average are both in late May!
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Re: Current conditions

Post by mkbgdns »

I wonder about NPS' willingness to roll up its sleeves and get things open ASAP. covid and what I imagine to be budget problems (loss of revenue in the last year) may change their pace from a fast start to a slow walk. case in point--road to Devil's Postpile (actually not NPS, I think, but a public agency). in the last decade, the road has opened later than in bigger snowpack years in the previous decade. the pattern is marked, even taking into account the Big Blowdown and some road problems.

of course, Tioga Road plowing may fall into a different basket. I know that in a "normal" year, I'd guess TM campground to open about mid-June based on the snowpack, but this year all bets are off. Tioga plowing "normally" starts around April 15. I'm sure there's prep work, and this doesn't include very dry or very wet years, but this year, while below average doesn't fall into either category. I wonder if prep work/plowing started yesterday. not talking about Caltrans from the east, always ahead of Yosemite.
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