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Winter arrives in the Sierra?

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A few years ago I did what was a traditional end-of-season backpack trip out of Tuolumne Meadows on the last weekend during which the NPS permits overnight parking on Tioga Pass road – this is typically on or just before October 15. It was a beautiful weekend with – as I always hope for in October – pleasant, sunny conditions and beautiful light.

The following weekend a backpacking buddy who had been unable to make that trip tried his own end-of-seasons visit, hoping to wander up into the Twenty Lakes Basin area just east of Tioga Pass. He arrived late and rolled out his bivy sack at the small campground by the lake right below Tioga Pass… and woke up the next morning with more than a half foot of snow on top of him and more on the way. He scrambled out of his bag, got into his car, and managed to get out just before the road was blocked. He liked to say that he was there for the switch from fall to winter… literally.

It sounds like something similar may happen over the next 24 hours. From all reports, one of the biggest October storms that we’ve seen in California in decades may be sweeping through tonight and tomorrow, bringing heavy winds, a lot of rain, and the potential for some significant snow at the higher elevations.

The folks at the Dweeb Report (interesting source of Sierra weather info) include an ominous sentence in their most recent update: “WINDS WITH THIS SYSTEM OVER THE CREST COULD REACH BETWEEN 120MPH AND 140MPH OVER THE CENTRAL SIERRA.”

Of course, you knew this was leading to a comment on aspens, right? Given the rather strange conditions for aspen color this fall, somehow it doesn’t seem at all surprising that the storm might bring down a good portion of the remaining leaves!

5 thoughts on “Winter arrives in the Sierra?”

  2. we’ve been getting quite a bit of wind already in the owens valley today. I expect it to increase over the next day into wed. I hope there’s some color left at June lake loop this weekend!?

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  3. My hunches (and they are no more than that really) are that in the Valley:

    1. waterfalls may come back to life!
    2. the Merced may rise.
    3. there will be some wonderful clouds in, around, and above the Valley.
    4. there will not be much of any snow in the picture.
    5. wind and pouring rain may make it difficult to get out an enjoy the spectacle at times

    In the higher country:

    1. the odds that Tioga Pass road will close at least temporarily are quite high – almost certain.
    2. reports are that wind in the high country could be very, very strong.
    3. the mid-October backpackers – and they are still out there – are going to have a wild 36 hours, and longer if they are high enough to get caught in heavy snow.
    4. the snow level is supposed to be quite high – at 9000′ the snow line could be higher than Tuolumne Meadows, but
    5. the amount of snow above that could be significant, so
    6. it is possible, but not certain, that the seasonal closure of Tioga could begin with this storm.

    On the east side:

    1. there will be similar issues with rain, wind, etc.
    2. if the wind ramps up as predicted this could bring down a lot more aspen leaves, bringing to a sudden end a less-than-stellar aspen color season.
    3. the could be plenty of opportunities for very dramatic photographs of peaks with snow breaking through clouds.
    4. access will become a lot more difficult if (as I expect) a number of trans-Sierra passes close and possibly some eastern Sierra roads close.

    Dan

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  5. I’m crossing my fingers that Tomorrow night’s storm is gentler than the forecast model. We’re headed up to Yosemite early Thursday morning, and tentatively plan to exit via the Tioga pass before dawn on Sunday (and spend the morning photographing what I hope will be golden aspens by then). Thanks for the update–I’ll be following the weather REALLY closely for the next couple of days.

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