Something to think about for photographers headed to the eastern Sierra to photograph aspen color next week: The seven-day Yosemite to Kings Canyon weather forecast is calling for snow (!) on Wednesday and Thursday, and things don’t look like they’ll totally clear out on Friday. This has some ramifications:
- Those of us who get to the eastern Sierra by way of one of the trans-Sierra passes may encounter difficulties if the forecast pans out. I would not be at all surprised to see a temporary closure of Tioga Pass Road (highway 120) though Yosemite, and other passes to the north could be affected. This makes for a very long drive for those of us in the SF Bay area!
- A storm can affect the aspen color display. A cold snap can, or so many of us believe, encourage the colors to change. But wind can also bring down many of the leaves in a hurry. (I once arrived before dawn at North Lake to see – just barely – incredible color conditions in the grove the runs up the hillside on the far side of the lake. Moments later a snow squall blew in, and as the wind began to blow I retreated to my car for a half hour. When it passed, half of the leaves had blown down!
- On the plus side, an early winter storm can bring some opportunities and advantages as well. Overcast and rainy/snowy weather can intensify the colors and create some very compelling and moody scenes. New snow adds something special to the scene, whether only on the higher peaks above or down among the trees.
It could get interesting, so check those weather forecasts and the road conditions on the mountain highways. Fall in the Sierra is a time of change in many ways. Pacific winter-type weather systems start to move through, and they can range from very mild to virtually full-blown winter storms. While most of them pass quickly, some can last for a few days and close passes. It would be very unusual for such an early October storm to actually mark the beginning of the winter road closures, but mid-October storms have done so in the past.
More:
- Link to the Yosemite to Kings Canyon 7-Day Forecast
- Link to Aspendell Area 7-Day Forecast (Bishop Canyon)
Steven:
Thanks for that on-the-scene update! The white board forecast seems consistent with what I’m hearing from the weather service. Apparently there is supposed to be one front coming through on Monday and then a somewhat more organized one on Wednesday, with the second one perhaps dropping more precipitation. The reports were saying that it would start at 8000′ on Wednesday and then perhaps drop to 6000′ as the front moves through.
This sounds like a typical early October system. The odds are that it won’t drop a whole lot of snow, but you never know – we could get up to a half foot. Most often these things leave a few inches and a day or two later the roads are all open again. The one fly in the ointment is that the NPS tends to be very conservative about opening Tioga Pass Road. They will close it for essentially any snowfall, even an inch or less, and then they may keep it closed for 24 hours or so.
Given the timing that was forecast yesterday, I was concerned that the pass might not open on Friday. However, since then the forecast has changed and Friday is looking more promising now. I really don’t relish the idea of going over highway 88 and then driving all the way down 395 to Mammoth, where I’m staying next weekend!
Your color report sounds like things are on track for perhaps a normal or slightly delayed color change. If it is less the fully changed at those higher elevations, they may well be great in about a week, as long as the storm isn’t too windy. And then the color will continue to work its way down to lower elevations for the next week or two after that.
Take care,
Dan
Dan, the white board at the Tioga entrance today had a forecast of snow for Monday through Wednesday. For some of the weather alerts online, it sounds like it might only be a dusting, but you’ve mentioned in the past that NPS has the tendency to close (temporarily or otherwise) Tioga Pass at the first instance of snow.
I drove out to the Bishop area today (North/South Lake and Lake Sabrina). About 25% color at North Lake and 50% on the shores of Lake Sabrina. Didn’t check the actual lake at South Lake as the wind was gusting. Nice patches of color here and there, but still a lot of green. Decent color around Parchers, especially up the hill but again, lots of green.