High Sierra Topix

Nice photos WD. Thanks for sharing.

Took a picture of these aspens in the Crescent Meadow in Sequoia. Believe they are the only ones in the meadow, but could be wrong.

Per post last Sunday per NWS long range forecast, first good winter storm is visiting us today. And per post was hoping to work the uncommon conditions of snow in giant sequoia groves with Pacific dogwood understories. As the storm approached, firming forecast showed snow levels would be marginal so I decided to wait and only pull the trigger on the drive if there was more certainty. Friday forecasts showed snow levels only down to 5500 feet on the backside of the storm in the Central Sierra. The best choice and closest drive for me from Santa Clara County is always Calveras Big Trees State Park up SR4 but the problem is at 4800 feet, it is about the lowest sequoia grove elevation in the Sierra.

Indeed this morning was up on the CDEC site and looked up the Calaveras Ranger Station CVS site that showed tempts at 3700 feet were mostly in 40F's while they had 1.6 inches of liquid precip and only by 6am had dropped to 37F. That meant CBTSP might be 4 degrees cooler or right at the freezing level. Not the kind of temperature necessary to create a magical snow landscape which needs to be below 30F else snow only sticks without quickly melting on limited elements like dried vegetation and leaves. The next possible grove south is Mariposa Big Trees in Yosemite which at 6400 feet would have been snow. Nearby CDEC site indeed showed about an inch of rain their too though most would have been before temps were below freezing. Still that forest is likely nicely covered in a few inches. So phoned up the park road conditions and found the road was closed at the SR41 junction which is ususal. That would mean a 3 mile walk up the road. An Ok choice if I had already been parked there at sunrise.

Then to the south, the two choices were Giant Forest in SEKI and Mountain Home State Park just south. Well much too long a drive and the cold core showers were going to track north of that region anyway. Thus once again was not going to happen. In fact did not get in a single day of fall leaf photography in this droughty year of modest to mediocre conditions.

But am generally happy about what this storm did as it put at least some rains all the way down to San Diego with many of the San Joaquin Valley areas receiving a half to three-quarters inch of rain, the first since last winter. And Central Coast and Coast Range areas were all up over an inch. Heck 2 inches fell in Monterey! And the Southern Sierra CDEC stations are showing double those totals. Even Carrizo Plain NM managed a full inch on its drought plain that is likely to green up that country.

http://www.nohrsc.noaa.gov/snow_model/i ... Nevada.jpg" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

This morning's NOAA snow map.

Actually finally managed a couple hours of fall leaf photography this year of 2014 but it wasn't in the Sierra.

viewtopic.php?f=8&t=12068#sthash.nZJAzAnp.RZVMYLRL.dpbs" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Fall in the Sierra gives all of us (no - not us all) the opportunity to see some of the best view of the Sierra. I must say ALL or the pic. were great and this isn't hype. All of them were really good. REALLY, all of them.