High Sierra Topix

The latest speculative nugget from Reno NWS:

AS A SPECULATIVE SIDE NOTE FOR WELL BEYOND THE 7-DAY FORECAST, SOME
MODELS START TO WORK A DEEPER, MORE SUBTROPICAL MOISTURE FEED INTO
THE MID-LATITUDE FLOW OVER THE CENTRAL PACIFIC BY LATE NEXT WEEK AND
BEYOND. THIS MAKES SENSE ACCORDING TO THE ECMWF ENSEMBLE MJO
FORECAST WHICH WORKS SUBTROPICAL/TROPICAL MOISTURE INTO THE WESTERN
PACIFIC FLOW OUT AROUND TWO WEEKS FROM NOW. THIS COULD EVENTUALLY
BRING HIGHER MOISTURE CONTENT AIR TO OUR REGION IF THE ZONAL PACIFIC
FLOW CAN CONTINUE FOR ANOTHER COUPLE WEEKS. REMEMBER, THIS IS ALL
HIGHLY SPECULATIVE AT THIS TIME BUT INTERESTING ENOUGH TO MENTION.
SNYDER

One of the free PBS station programs I sometimes catch is NHK World TV that spotlights Japan and Asia. They also include a global weather segment that focuses more on the western Pacific. Recently noticed quite a lot of storminess there and that is likely what they are watching develop. Yep we need a big Pineapple Express event but I'll even be happy with just a half sized event.

Brace Yourselve !!!! March 19, 2012 ...It Will RAIN & SNOW !!!!

Went up to check out Bowman Lake Road (North of I-80, off Hwy. 20) this morning with my son. Road was blocked by a man-made snow berm about a quarter mile in, but if it wasn't there I think I could have driven another mile or two. Only about a foot on the ground—it looked and felt more like late April up there than early March. Forecast calls for another storm early next week, so we'll see what happens...

Looks like it was a little more miraculous in the north than in the south. Today's SWEQ summary has 68% of normal-to-date in the northern region (Trinity/Sacramento through Feather/Truckee), 48% in the central region (Yuba/Tahoe through Merced/Walker), and 39% in the southern region (San Joaquin through Kern). I wouldn't bank on a Memorial Day trip in the Trinity Alps, but there should be a good deal of early-season availability in SeKi.

Sweet. Glad I am starting this year at Mineral King. Two months and I can get back out there!

Looks like despite all the new snow the melt is coming along nicely.

The extreme southern Sierra looked (from the San Gabriels) to have picked up quite a bit of snow. Saturday night was so miserable in the San Gabriels, with rain and howling winds, that I spent the night in an outhouse. There's a first time for everything, I suppose.

I was hoping for a really low snow year for all Sierra BPers, especially after last years fiasco (just my opinion). I hadn't really thought about what WD said about fires and smoke but she's absolutely right. I remember trips that I cut short because of smoke. Let's hope for an even better than snow miracle. Let's hope for some good rain storms in the late spring and early summer. I don't mean to wish for a miserable rain summer like that of 2003. The packer in Kings Canyon that year said that there had not been 3 consecutive rain free days in July nor in August. That year I (we) went on a seven day trip in September and had NO rain. Pretty lucky huh. We went to Grouse and Kid. We caught some big fish out of Kid.

Gregg Kawczynski, fishing on that Sep trip.

That would suck to have that much rain. I had 22 days total of rain last year which is more then enough for me.

I hope fires wont be a big problem because there is no cutting my trip short for me. Only major injury or death can stop me.

I have thought it would suck also to be on the move on a long hike and have a forest fire in your path.