Sunrise light on a grove of tufa towers emerging from the water of Mono Lake with soft green and dusty-red wild grasses in the foreground, Canada geese in the shallow water with reflections of the rocky towers, and desert hills in the distance.

It’s Tioga Pass flip-flop season … today it is closed

Sunrise light on a grove of tufa towers emerging from the water of Mono Lake with soft green and dusty-red wild grasses in the foreground, Canada geese in the shallow water with reflections of the rocky towers, and desert hills in the distance.
Large pellets of wet snow have been falling this morning in Lee Vining, accompanied by thunder and lightning: thundersnow! Photo by Elin Ljung.
Large pellets of wet snow have been falling this morning in Lee Vining, accompanied by thunder and lightning: thundersnow! Photo by Elin Ljung.

Tioga Pass closed this morning due to a May snowstorm that has already dropped about an inch of large snow pellets in Lee Vining. Thunder has also been rumbling around in the sky for a few hours—thundersnow is quite rare! The gutters in town are brimming with water from the quickly-melting snow, all making its way to Mono Lake. While we’re ready for Tioga Pass to be open and stay open, we’re always glad of more water for Mono Lake.

Since Tioga Pass opened for the season on Monday, this closure is temporary, and the Yosemite National Park will open the road when the weather clears.