High Sierra Topix

Area Forecast Discussion, National Weather Service, Hanford, CA:

A Winter Weather Advisory remains in effect from 11 PM
Sunday night through 5 PM Monday afternoon above 8,000 feet from
Fresno County to Yosemite NP. There is a 55 percent probability
of 2 inches or more of snow at Tioga Pass as snow levels drop
to 7500 feet on Monday.

Another upper low pressure system is progged to drop southward
behind the departing low and impact central CA on Wednesday
afternoon and evening and bring additional chances of
precipitation to our area. Snow levels with this system are
progged to bet between 9000 and 9500 feet, but Tioga Pass could
still be impacted. QPF progs are indicating that this system
will be wetter than the Monday system and provide the SIerra
Nevada with a quarter to half an inch of liquid precipitation
on Wednesday and Thursday.

My daughter and I are heading out on Tuesday to do the High Sierra Loop. I’m checking weather reports and while nothing looks TOO harrowing, I’m finding a bit of a discrepancy between Open Snow and the NWS. Im flying out from the east coast, is there a weather forecast that seems to have a good track record with Yosemite weather?

I use primarily Naional Weather Service. It seems to have a decent track record.

tomba wrote: ↑Sun Sep 15, 2024 9:46 am I use primarily Naional Weather Service. It seems to have a decent track record.

Thank you!

https://www.nps.gov/yose/planyourvisit/weathermap.htm
If your scroll down on this page, there are links to point forecasts for various locations in Yosemite from the National Weather Service.

On the forecast page itself, I like to scroll down and click on "Forecast Discussion", which has a plain language description from the meteorologist about the expected conditions. This often has useful information beyond the regular forecast.

If I was you I would be prepared for wet and snowy conditions. Normally I like trail runners, but in this case I would probably prefer waterproof boots, and good rain gear. And most importantly I would be prepared to be flexible with my itinerary, in case the conditions are more challenging than expected. The mountains aren't going anywhere, so don't be afraid to defer your intended route to a later date.

No snow yet.

We are heading out from pine creek trailhead Thursday.. looks to be a cold wet/snowy slog lol.. good news is fri, sat, sun look awesome as far as weather goes.. we are all prepared and experienced..just ugh lol.. but nothing to it but to do it!!

It did not turn out to be much of a snow event so far.

There was some snow yesterday south of Sonora Pass.