February 26, 2008
The Mono Lake Committee
Information Center and Bookstore is open daily 9-5.
The Scenic Area Visitor Center is closed
until late March or April.
Here you can find weather trends, wildlife sightings and more! Click here for live information from Mono Lake! Click here for Photos of the Week!
Weather:
Another foot of snow in the last week has refreshed
the low elevation snowpack. Highs have been in the 30s with lows in
the 10-20s. Dry weather with above normal temperatures is expected.
Climate: Lee Vining has had 118% of average precipitation (to date) for the season and 100% of the April 1st average. With 68.4 inches of snow, January 2008 was the snowiest calendar month in the 20-year record for Lee Vining (although a 1-month period Dec 2004-Jan 2005 had about one foot more snow), and it was the fifth wettest month during the last 20 years for Lee Vining: 7.77 inches of precipitation.
Click here for a live weather report from Lee Vining! Click here for a 10 day forecast. Click here for special Members' Section Weather Data!
High Country:
Tioga Pass Resort is closed this winter.
Last night's low was 21 degrees at Tioga Pass and 8
degrees in Tuolumne Meadows. High elevation snowpack is above average for
February and near-normal for April 1st. Snow surveys will be conducted during
the next week.
- Tioga Pass WebCam
- Weekly Tuolumne Meadows Conditions Report (NPS)
- Cross Country Trail Grooming Report (Mammoth Nordic)
- Ice Climbing Conditions (SMG / SMC - see link at bottom)
- Current avalanche conditions (Eastern Sierra Avalanche Center)
- Water content of the snowpack (CDEC)
Birds: Clark's Nutcrackers are abundant. Woodpeckers are plentiful in the small June Fire burn area north of the June Lake Junction. See our Mono Basin Bird Sightings page and the Eastern California Bird Sightings page.
Aquatic Life:
Mono Lake is murky green and shrimp are absent. Mono Lake's water
column mixed completely by mid-December and the lake has been rising
since Jan 1st.
Mono Lake currently stands at about
6382.3 feet
above sea level.
Click here for more
information on Mono Lake's level. Click here for realtime
hydrologic data from LADWP.
Runoff: Many SCE reservoirs are empty and the creeks are very low during this dry (52% of average) runoff year. LADWP is exporting its allowed 16,000 acre-feet of water at a rate of 15 cfs through the Mono Craters Tunnel into the Upper Owens River. The SWRCB granted LADWP a temporary variance to lower Rush Creek's flow from the minimum 36 cfs to 26 cfs--the lowest it has been for sustained periods of time since 1989. Grant Lake Reservoir is dropping.
Fishing season in fresh water bodies opens April 26 (there are no fish in Mono Lake).
Roads: All vehicles must carry chains. All roads are subject to closure during storms. Conditions can change, so always check (800) GAS-ROAD before traveling, or click here for Current Road and Weather Conditions. Winter road closures are in effect (including Tioga Pass). Tioga Road is typically closed until the end of May. Click here for historic opening and closing dates. Click here for road conditions in Yosemite.
Astronomical Events: Last week's lunar eclipse at moonrise was spectacular. The moon is new next week and the stars are bright. See www.spaceweather.com for more sky happenings.
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