Snow Pack Planning 2024

[dbargaehr1]

Ha! I was going to answer the first of May, for the reasons stated above. Of course, if the year is truly a drought year, then May 1 might be a bit late...we've done at least one trip in April, when there was no snow at 8,500 feet. It was colder than h3ll, thought...grin.

I always plan after opening day of trout season or about May 1st but as you said(Balzaccom), this is a drought year so that may be a bit late. One good thing about a drought year is you can fish the rivers and streams early. Last year was a bust because of all the run-off. The West Walker wasn't fishable until late August in most parts.

Texan

Our trip up bench cnyon was supposed to yield a lot of good fishing, but unfortunately they were moving REAL slow. Even at around 8000ft i still had to go subsurface with wet flies to entice a few wild ones in late july. A "bad" fishing year, but an amazing trip.

[alpinemike]

Lots of snow and precip has fallen since the start of this thread, and while nothing is guaranteed for the snow year at this point, given what's occurred in the last 3 weeks, this year is going to trend closer to average than originally thought by many by the middle of January.

And with that said.. a lot more snow is coming over the next week. El Nino seasons are typically back loaded seasons with less falling in December/January and typically more in February - April. February is going to be an above average snowfall month for basically everywhere in the Sierra and if March continues that trend we'll be back to an average or close to an average year.

Best to just keep an eye out on storms that may come through in March and early April to make the call on what this summer season will look like.

[paul]

Well, it is piling up. The interactive sensor report shows 104% of average to date. If, like me, you enjoy following a sensor or two during a big storm, to see the numbers change, it was a fun weekend. The Gianelli Meadow sensor was at 33.3" of water equivanent and 98" snow depth at 1900 hours on the 29th. By yesterday at the same time, 40.86 and 136. Not bad for 72 hours. I have been watching that one because I am planning a ski trip into the Emigrant in early May, and things are looking good for that, snowpack-wise.

[JWreno]

We plan on hiking north from Glen Aulin on the PCT starting mid September. Last year my brother had us turn around on the very last part of Whitney because the snow was pretty deep. Shouldn't have much of a problem September going north from Yosemite.

It was a good storm last weekend. It was the third time we shoveled a lot of snow at our home in Reno. Good for water and hopefully keeps the fires at lower altitudes.

[paul]

A data point or two: just got back from a ski trip into the Emigrant. About 6 feet of snow on the ground at Whitesides Meadow - the only place where I could gauge depth due to the open sections of creek. That was before the foot to a foot and a half that fell while I was coming out. Before the storm, patchy down to about 6000, solid snow on north facing from about 7200 and south facing from about 7800. I would be surprised if the road to Crabtree is open by Memorial day, and the road to Gianelli would probably be a couple weeks after that. Unless we get a burning hot rest of May, or a bunch of rain up high.