Tuolumne Meadows Winter Conditions Report

December 9, 2009
Weather: (December 3 through December 9)
High temp: 47° (December 4)
Low temp: -20 (December 8)
New Snow: 12”
Total settled snow depth: 9” as of December 9

Ski Conditions and Weather
The beginning of another winter in Tuolumne. We are off to a slow start with 9 inches of powdery snow on the ground. We received 1 foot of new snow from the storm on Monday. Prior to that we had a mixture of bare ground and up to 3 inches of crusty snow from the Thanksgiving weekend storm. The big weather event has been the cold. The clear skies have resulted in some brutally cold temperatures, minus 20 degrees Fahrenheit on Tuesday morning and around 5 below last night. There is not much moisture in the snow so we expect it to settle even more. The good news is the National Weather Service is predicting another round of storms starting tomorrow. Ski touring is easy in the light powdery snow but you will have to hold off if you want to get any turns in. Avalanche and Snowpack Conditions: For the latest avalanche advisory for this area go to http://www.esavalanche.org for the Eastern Sierra Avalanche Center and click on advisory. The ESAC site is updated several times a week and more often during weather events.

Wildlife
We were treated to a great sighting of a Long Tailed Weasel (Mustela frenata) as we were skiing through the meadows this morning. We had seen the tracks popping in and out of the snow since this weasel can travel underneath as well as on top of the snow. The tracks disappeared completely and suddenly we saw a head pop out of the snow right beside us. It was very curious and stared at us for a long time until it saw enough and then back underneath the snow it went without a track in sight. This weasel is larger than the Ermine and the literature says it turns white in the winter in Montane regions. This weasel was brown with a white chest so there must be some variations. This little guy eats 40% of its body weight everyday consuming mice, voles, rabbits, gophers, and chipmunks. We also saw our usual Coyote, Pine Marten, Chickaree, White-tailed Jack Rabbit, and many tiny rodent tracks.

Birds seen and heard this week include the Mountain Chickadee, Red Breasted Nuthatch, Brown creeper, Clark’s Nutcracker, Common Raven, Dark-eyed Juncos, and Hairy Woodpecker.

Questions: If you have any ski related or weather questions feel free to call (209) 372-0450 between 8:00 am and 8:00 pm. If we are out skiing, leave a message and a phone number so we can return your call.

Jeff and Kathi, the Tuolumne winter rangers