Mt Whitney Zone Forums General Discussion Snowpack

This one was a bit more of a challenge!

I'm sure I missed some creditable peaks. Sorry, my eyes started hurting...

Hey, I'm only speculating here, Dog. But I'm thinking they used the water to generate hydropower earlier than usual during peak demand in summer to make up for lost power at San Onofre. But maybe they just needed the water for Huntington and Shaver Lakes, I really don't know. Meeting with them soon, I'll ask.

I'll bet your eyes hurt! Thanks so much! It is so cool that ten of the California Fourteeners show up in the picture.

I am curious what tools you used to identify the peaks. Are you a Google Earth expert, or...?

Steve and Dave, thanks for taking the picture and for labeling it. That is very cool looking at Sierra and familiar peaks from a different perspective.

a little late finding my August 2013 South Lake picture but here it is

Wow: that is dry!!

By the end of September, it was much lower than that. However, the high altitude lakes seem to be doing okay at that time(Long lake, Spearhead Lake, Bishop Lake, Blue Lake, Hungry Packer Lake, etc.)

Keep in mind that both South Lake and Lake Sabrina are artificial lakes, not natural, except for a small part of upper Sabrina. Before the dams were built, the South and Middle forks of Bishop Creek flowed unimpeded. This year SCE was letting water run straight through without attempting to store it, in order to continue providing water for the down-stream power generating stations.

If the current storms are any indication, the snow pack is slowly building up again. We'll keep our fingers crossed!

I use Google Earth and other GIS based programs at work every day. Things are a little slow right now, so I have time to label peaks.
Great pictures by the way!

As everyone should realize, the snowpack is very very low this year. I think 2013 was the driest year in CA recorded history and there's no precip on the horizon for January so far. On the bright side, the hiking was great around Lake Tahoe over the holidays with warm sunny weather and only occasional use of microspikes.

AP article on the recent snow survey

Couple feet on the way over the weekend for the Tahoe area!

We got an inch of precip down this way today. It poured for a long time. YES!!!

The recent bump in precip gave the year a chance to not go down as the driest on record, at least in the southern third. The north is still well in record low range

bump in graph

Forecast now predicts stronger warming trend with snow turning to rain on Sunday. Snow levels around 8,000-8,500 around Tahoe. That would be bad for snowpack and skiing.

If the climate models happen to be correct instead of a hoax, then we'll have a lot more of these winters. California winters have a lot of variability, and there will be extremes in the other direction of course. Talking about trends over time.

Hi
Visiting the site after several months. How is the snow situation in Sierras? Is it below 100%. I am planning for the HST and want to make sure that I hike during the best flower season. July or August? or even earlier?
Thanks!

Hi Krishna. This is going to be a tricky year for flowers, because while the general snowpack is much much lower than usual (some 30% of normal is one of the numbers I have read), there will still have to be warm enough temperatures to melt what is there (for the flowers to poke through) Normally, I have found that middle July is good for around 8-9 thousand feet, and middle/second week of August is good for the high country (based on Northern Sierra & Hikes to Dana, which is usually still covered in snow until the end of June - starting elev around 9.5 thousand ft, ends at 13 thousand). It might be earlier this year; I will be interested to read what others have to say.

19% of normal in the southern Sierra. Flowers in June, even earlier at low elevations

Snow Water Content Graph

We're skipping our April ski trip as there is nothing to ski on, and are planning an early summer hike instead.

I hate to quibble with you Fishmonger (I do enjoy some quibbling with others now and then), but technically it's 27% of "normal" in the southern Sierra for an average Feb 1st. The 19% you cite is relative to the average April 1 water content, April 1 being the last snow survey of the season.

We're well below normal and nothing big on the horizon. Only a Miracle March could make a difference at this point. The mighty Groundhog says wildflowers and mosquitoes will start early, creek crossings will be easier, and fires will be raging this summer and fall.

Thanks! On the other hand this year plenty of cross country around here in Chicago. The Dupage Forest Dept started grooming the Waterfall glen trails and I had several weekends of cross country! Fantastic powder snow on well groomed trails. We are expecting another 2 to 3 in tomorrow. Cant ask for more!

On the other hand, I'm sure many of your neighbors are asking for less

woohoo 27% of normal...

well, that still sucks. The other 73% precip are in my yard it seems. 34 days in a row below 32F here, and getting colder again. Nothing melts here. Snow and ice piling up, even without a single big storm. The jet stream is all screwed up and long term, I suppose we need to get used to crazy patterns like this.