Mono Lake has donned its winter personality—the water is tinged green, the beach is covered in snow, and the rabbitbrush has turned brown. The whole basin has a calm, serene feeling that is a stark contrast from the hum of summer.

The Mono Basin lies blanketed under a layer of poconip ice fog in this view looking south from Conway Summit on January 18, 2013. Photo by Arya Degenhardt.

Mono Lake has been seeing fewer human visitors, of course, but the seasonal silence is more than that. In the summer, Mono Lake is teeming with life and activity, and in the dead of winter it just seems … quiet. Which begs the question—where are all of Mono Lake’s creatures hiding in the wintertime? (more…)

Snow surveys are conducted in the Mono Basin at five locations between 9,000 feet and 11,000 feet every year around February 1st, March 1st, and April 1st. They were completed by last Thursday, and the numbers are looking good! The water content of the snowpack is 110% of average for this time of year, and 69% of the usual seasonal total on April 1st.

Although January was very (more…)

After an average fall, precipitation-wise, we recorded double the average December precipitation in Lee Vining. Between October 1st and the end of December, we have measured more snow (34.5″) and precipitation (6.5″) than during all of last winter! This represents about 50% of the average annual total.

Snow blankets the Mono Lake Committee's storefront on December 26, 2012. Photo by Bartshe Miller.

For years with similar wet Decembers (1992, 1996, 2002, 2005, 2010), the following runoff year had close-to-average or (more…)

If you haven’t experienced poconip, or ice fog, at Mono Lake, I recommend it. It usually happens when it’s sunny in most other parts of the Eastern Sierra, and the ground is frozen or snow-covered.

Rime ice in the Lee Vining Creek riparian area.

The fog can be quite thick, and it is very chilly inside the fog layer—keeping temperatures below freezing all day. The poconip creates rime ice on (more…)

We missed winter last year. There was little snow in the Mono Basin during the 2011/2012 season, and sometimes you forgot that it was winter. Hikers freely roamed the high country in December 2011, and Tioga Pass remained open well into January 2012. One year later: a week’s worth of winter storms have nearly erased our memory. Now there is snow to play in and a dramatic, new landscape to discover. If you drop everything to see Mono Lake and her snow-dressed mountains, don’t forget your skis, snowshoes, tire chains, and budget some extra time to get around. You will not be disappointed.

Poconip fog lingers in Lee Vining Canyon as a Christmas Day storm breaks over the Sierra Crest. Photo by Bartshe Miller.

Can you identify these tracks? Photo by Nick Holt.

While waking up to fresh snow is a great treat (especially for those of us from Southern California), this most recent storm revealed some extra surprises. Winter may be upon us here in the Mono Basin, but a multitude of animals are still enjoying the spectacular scenery. On my walk to work this morning I spotted fresh tracks from bears, raccoons, deer, squirrels, rabbits, and other furry woodland critters. Clark’s Nutcrackers, Stellar’s Jays, and Mountain Chickadees had the air to themselves as they traded calls (more…)

There are pumpkins and remnants of Halloween decorations in the yards of Lee Vining. Many businesses have closed for the season, but the Mono Lake Committee continues to greet people daily at our Information Center & Bookstore, which is open 9:00am–5:00pm.

November visitors seem equally interested in fall color information, weather predictions, and learning which roads (more…)

This looks like the best weekend yet for beautiful fall color in the Mono Basin … drop everything and come on over!

Golden cottonwoods line lower Mill Creek, in a capture from the Mono Lake Committee's Mill Creek webcam.

The Sacramento Bee reports that Conway Summit, Lundy Canyon, Lee Vining Canyon, and the June Lake Loop are all at the peak (more…)

It snowed yesterday for the first time this season!

A dusting on Mt. Wood and Mt. Lewis just west of Mono Lake last night at sunset. Photo by Elin Ljung.

After so little snow last winter … after a paltry runoff season last spring … after looking at brown mountains all summer … this healthy dusting on the peaks is a beautiful relief. The sun is already peeking (more…)

The October 1, 2011 to September 30, 2012 water year recently came to a close. Happy new 2013 water year!

What is a water year?
It is said that hydrologists get to celebrate a new year at least four times a year—January 1st for a calendar year, April 1st for a runoff year, July 1st for a coastal California rainfall year (as well as a fiscal year), and October 1st for a water year. Needless to say, this creates challenges in organizing hydrology data.

Here in the Mono Basin, we typically use the runoff year to summarize most measurements involving stream flows, since (more…)