When the Red Meets the Yellow...

[tgtaylor]

Approaching from opposite directions, Mono County and Mammoth Mountain road crews meet up with National Park Service road crews. May 31, 2011:



Thomas

[Michael Clark]

Does this mean the pass will be opening?

[patrickjames]

This kind of thing blows my mind. I was in Glacier NP a couple of years ago and there was still 30 something feet of snow on the road in June!

Over the years it was always something to check the snow reports on the Tioga pass before venturing in that direction. It really is amazing that such a huge part of California is inaccessible without an unbelievably long drive when one is on either side of the Sierras. When I was living in San Diego I always wanted to hit Yosemite and Death Valley on a quick road trip but there were only a few months that it was actually possible to do both in a few days.

[tgtaylor]

I are playing when I saw this on the park's websiter yesterday. It kind of looks like they are playing chicken.

Thomas

[Preston]

Does this mean the pass will be opening?

Not likely, at least in the next week. It's supposed to warm up later this week after the current system passes through, but I'll believe it when I see it. In fact, it's snowing in this Sierra as I write, and raining hard in the Foothills. Sonora Pass is also closed.

--P

[cdholden]

Not likely, at least in the next week. It's supposed to warm up later this week after the current system passes through, but I'll believe it when I see it. In fact, it's snowing in this Sierra as I write, and raining hard in the Foothills. Sonora Pass is also closed.

--P

Today's high temp here in Nashville is 94 degrees Fahrenheit. It's hard to believe there are places in this country with several feet of snow on the ground while I'm trying my best to stay cool.

[Drew Wiley]

Now the concern is flooding. If there are some significant warm rains or a sudden
heat wave, you can kiss about half of Fresno, Modesto, and Sacramento good bye.
The Californication of our farmlands on those flooplains has not only led to an
unsustainable economic model based on mindless sprawl, which factored more than
anything else the national mortgage failure mess, but now raises the distinct possiblity of a manmade disaster bigger than what hurricane Katrina did to the south. Doesn't matter - if all the levees fail and everything is destroyed, they'll just
build subdivisions there again, over and over. I'd just like to get out of Dodge and
up to the high country, but haven't planned anything significant till mid-Sept, and
even then I'll bet there will still be a lot of snow in the shady areas.

[Drew Wiley]

Oh - and it's not "several feet of snow" up there. It's still snowing, and there are
probably drifts in places a couple hundred feet deep. The Sierra Nevada officially
recorded the deepest snowfalls on earth up until satellite-linked monitors were
installed in the BC backcountry and Alaska Range. And this year exceeds any other
year on record. Still, this only buys some time for our disappearing glaciers. Most
won't get jump-started by a few years of record snow; but the ailing ones
might hang on a while longer, and the healthy ones expand a bit.

[Sirius Glass]

Mammoth Mountain [in the Sierra Nevadas http://www.mammothmountain.com/MyMam...onditions-snow select "History"]is open for skiing on the 4th of July. This week they have 57 feet of snowfall to date.
Snowbird [http://www.snowbird.com/ski_board/snowreport.php] has 65 feet of snowfall to date.

[Deane Johnson]

Did they drive a golden spike?