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.

The snow is coming down!

My dad, a diehard webcam fan, just emailed me from the California coast to say that the webcam reveals what looks like a whiteout in Lee Vining. That’s pretty much true! The snow began falling in earnest this morning around 8:00 am, and I walked to work in the silent, muted atmosphere that heavy snow creates. Since we measured the overnight accumulation at opening time, another four inches have already fallen, and we swept and shoveled the front walkway half a dozen times before lunch! Any and all snow is welcome at Mono Lake, but this winter it feels especially exciting to have such fat flakes falling so rapidly. Maybe this storm will carry us a little bit farther away from the dreaded d-word: drought.

So keep doing your snow dances, travel safely in the Eastern Sierra today, and watch as the white stuff piles up!