From Friday through Monday a very wet storm dropped copious amounts of rain and snow, totaling 5.66 inches of water content (in about 20 inches of snow) in Lee Vining, 2.93 inches at Cain Ranch, and 11.5 inches at Gem Pass. Snow levels were between 6,000 and 8,000 feet Friday through Sunday. Since Sunday night when the cold front passed through, all the precipitation fell as snow. The skies became partly cloudy Monday night just in time for the total lunar eclipse.

Tuesday morning’s bright sun shone on the snow-covered Mono Basin. It was really nice to see the sun most of the day Tuesday after four dark and stormy days… but then on Tuesday afternoon it started snowing again after only a 17-hour break!

Lee Vining’s seasonal precipitation total so far (since October 1st) is just two inches away from the annual average of 13.7 inches! This was our wettest fall since 1996. More stormy weather is expected today and again this weekend.

Tags: Hydrology

This entry was posted on Wednesday, December 22nd, 2010 at 7:05 am and is filed under News, Seasonal Update. You can view No Responses on this post or leave your own response if you log in.