When the temperature drops close to zero, some interesting things happen to the flowing water in Mono Lake’s tributaries. I shot this video on December 8th at Rush Creek right after measuring the flow in a side channel. Ominous cracking noises in the silent below freezing air preceded this dramatic burst (more…)

On November 12th, 2009, at approximately 5:30 pm, the roar of hail on metal roofs resounded throughout the town of Lee Vining. It hailed really hard for about an hour, followed by a transition from 1/4 inch hail to smaller and smaller hail until it turned to snow by 8:00 pm. The snow continued until around 9pm. The next morning we measured about (more…)

Brilliant fall days now have snowy peaks added to the mix after Tuesday’s storm.

WEATHER
It rained 1/4 inch per hour all afternoon and evening on Tuesday, with a snow level around 8,000 feet. The Mono Basin ended up with 2.2–2.8 inches of rain and Tioga Pass ended up with two feet of wet slushy snow that melted rapidly during the warm days that followed. Gorgeous days in the 60s will cool off a bit early next week. Click here for current conditions.

FALL COLOR

One of the best years ever for fall color along lower Lee Vining Creek. Photo by Greg Reis.

Middle and low elevations are peaking right now! This is one of the best years for fall color that I can remember along the Lee Vining Creek trail—so many red dogwoods and roses and fireweed, and yellow aspen, cottonwoods, willows, and serviceberry. There are many green trees also that will be getting colorful next week. There are a lot of tinges of orange amidst the yellow. Snowy peaks and brilliant blue (more…)

Have you ever wondered how all of those pipes, ditches, and lakes along Highway 395 connect, or how a rain drop that falls on the east side of Mt. Dana might get to Los Angeles? Well, you’re not alone, (more…)

Work progresses on the Grant Lake Reservoir outlet gate to Rush Creek. Photo by Greg Reis.

Mono Lake dropped a 1/4 foot in July, and stood at 6382.3 feet above sea level on August 1st. This is very similar to the forecasted July drop in lake level of 0.2 feet.

Lee Vining precipitation in July was below average, despite a month full of thunderstorms. Average rainfall is about 1/2 an inch—only 0.12 inches fell, total. This followed a wet May and June, so April-through-July precipitation is slightly above the 2-inch average.

At the end of June, total Rush Creek runoff was almost exactly as forecasted—about 101% of average—but the monthly pattern wasn’t. April and May had higher runoff than forecasted and June was lower than forecasted, mainly as a result (more…)

This week we received LADWP’s forecast for Mono Lake levels for the 2009 Runoff Year (April 1, 2009-March 31, 2010). The lake is expected to be at its peak right now (the current elevation of Mono Lake is 6382.53 feet above sea level ), and fall about 1/2 foot by early September, and fall a total of about (more…)

The Mono Lake Committee found out this past week that the Los Angeles Department of Water & Power (DWP) is forecasting 88% of average runoff for the 2009 Runoff Year (April 1, 2009–March 31, 2010) for the Mono Basin. Currently, the Mono Basin snowpack ranges from 89–102% of average.

Last year, DWP forecasted 86% of average runoff, but actual runoff turned out to be much less—about 64% of average based on preliminary numbers. This huge discrepancy was due to (more…)

The first days of April are bringing more California Gulls to Mono Lake and human visitors to the Mono Lake Committee Information Center & Bookstore (open seven days a week). Today is the opening day for the Scenic Area Visitor Center operated by the US Forest Service (closed Tuesdays and Wednesdays).

WEATHER
Typical spring weather in the Mono Basin is a warm sunny day followed by a snowy one … and this spring is no exception. The first day of spring—at 65 degrees, our warmest day since November—was followed by a weekend that brought a foot of snow to Lee Vining! It was our biggest storm (more…)

SNOWPACK
Some snow sensors in the Mono Basin are reporting above-average snowpack! Gem Pass snow water content is 108% of the March 10th average! This is 96% of the April 1st average–the typical date of peak snowpack in the Sierra. Most other snow measurements in the area are (more…)

Snow storms during the first two weeks of February have caused Mono Lake to finally rise–an event that almost always occurs before the end of January. Yesterday evening as the light faded on the wind-ruffled waters of Mono Lake surrounded by a blanket of white snow and the grey-hued clearing storm clouds, I read the lake level gauge: 6382.28 feet above sea level.

Mono Lake had been at this level for about a week, but when (more…)