TUOLUMNE MEADOWS WINTER CONDITIONS UPDATE
December 23, 2009
Weather: (December 17 through December 23)
High temp: 52° (December 19)
Low temp: 6 (December 21)
New Snow: 11”
Total settled snow depth: 27” as of December 23
Ski Conditions and Weather: This week had a little bit of everything weather-wise. We had very warm temperatures over the weekend with bright sunshine putting a sun crust on top of the snow. Then Monday we got a cold, windy storm dumping 10 inches of new snow on us. There are now snowdrifts and wind crust between the soft snow. Touring is quite good. Caution is advised on any steep terrain due to the shallow snowpack and wind loading.
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. It looks like they are still looking for an avalanche forecaster. The ESAC site is updated several times a week and more often during weather events.
Wildlife: We saw the tracks of Coyote, Pine Marten, Chickaree, White-tailed Jack Rabbit, weasel, and many tiny rodents. Birds seen and heard this week include the Mountain Chickadee, Red-breasted Nuthatch, Brown Creeper, Common Raven, and Clark’s Nutcracker.
Questions: Saturday night all our phone lines went dead, so there is no way to contact us if you have questions. There appears to be a problem with the phone cable somewhere between Tuolumne and Yosemite Valley. AT&T is aware of the problem. No timeline was given for when it can be fixed. Sorry for the inconvenience. (Jeff and Kathi, the Tuolumne winter rangers).