Fresh snow on Half Dome

Ok,

Be honest, who is watching and waiting for the next good snow fall?

I have been keeping an eye on the Yosemite web cams from this page:http://www.tranquilityimages.com/cams.shtml. And this AM I saw the first fresh blanket of snow on Half Dome since the last good snow in December. Then more clouds came in which is good!

The top image from below below Sentinal Dome displays a nice coverage on the trees there as well. It makes we wonder what Dewey Point would look like.

So is anyone planning a kamakazi trip up there if things get better? I told myself I would 'Not' do another day trip up there after the one I did earlier this month. I had left at 2:30 AM to arrive for sunrise. Then I left the Valley after shooting sunset. But with work and other responsibilities it may be my only option especially mid week.

Either way this will be the last snow of January. Hopefully February will offer more white stuff in the High Sierras.

Derek

Derek, well, I have to say yes to your first question. I'm semi prepared with a new load of film in the fridge. For me if it happens it will take place on the eastern side as in years past. Last year was an amazing year for snow on the east side. It was on both sides of 395 and started clear down at Little Lake and ran the length of the Owens Valley and further. So, time will tell at this point. Although, it seems awful slow this time in getting a good start. Kind of gives me recall to the fall color changes this last year .
It seemed much slower in getting a good start then years past from my photo outings up there over the last 15+ years.

Derek,

I'm actually leaving the house within the hour so I came here to post this when I saw yours note.

The weather forecast for today is 90% snow and 70% tommorrow. It looks favorable for snow in the valley tonight - which means tommorrow, Monday should be good.

I was going to post to see if anyone was going. I'll be traveling with my wife and dog Scout, so carpooling wasn't an option. I'm staying at the Yosemite View Lodge in El Portal tonight ($115!)

If anyone is heading up there, I'll be driving a 2008 maroon Ford Taurus "X" - it's a cross-over type vehicle, not the old sedan. I'll mostly be photographing along the road since the wife is along, but feel free to stop and say hello.

I told myself I wasn't going to miss the next storm, so here I go.

btw, the webiste for the original Yosemite cams is here.

Lon

Cool Lon,

Thanks for posting! Although I have meetings at work tommorrow that I can't miss I will be keeping an eye things throughout the day. Tuesday would be my only possible shot at going. But I'll have to wait and see.

I was really hoping for more snow in the Valley. If it comes at all it will be tonight and tommorrow. But the higher elevations should have some nice white stuff. Possibly some of the Redwood groves. I bet Floris is already on his way.LOL...

Anyway I look forward to hearing back from you.

Derek

haha! I think I satisfied my Sequoia cravings for a little while

Got some pesky work I have to do Wish I could take off the time to run into the mountains..

But I hope this weather persists.. I certainly want to get some nice spring flower displays!

There could still be be plenty of snow in Feb and March. I've gotten Yosemite snow shots in mid March. Not to mention walking around in knee deep there.

Steve makes a good point. The last I checked Feb-Mar. had the highest precipitation levels for Yosemite. That can and does translate to snow. Two other items- 1) Horsetail Falls in Feb. and 2) a few weeks before/after Spring Equinox (Mar.22) light strikes both Bridal Veil and The Captain at sunset.

Thanks Art and Steve,

I think I'll continue to watch and wait. In looking at the cams this AM it looks like the high country is the place to be. Since I don't know that area as much I want to explore it a bit first. A snow shoe out to Dewey Point would probably be good. Anyway we will see who ventures out there today. Lon is in Yosemite right now.

Art Horsetail Falls is soemthing I would really like to shoot with the backlighting. I am hoping for at least one more major dumping in the valley this Winter.

Derek

For what its worth, my travels there in February '07 were to me, some of the more tranquil and beautiful times to be there and the weather was actually quite variable (in a good way) the entire trip there.

Plus, there is no shortage of interesting weather to be had under the right conditions. My only thought is finding the right place to stay there which can be quite a challenge on one's pocketbooks haha

By the way, today's cam had some EXCELLENT images with the clouds really playing around Half-Dome. Its making me jealous!

Just got back from Yosemite and thought I would report in. It did snow, but not the extent I was hoping for. The NWS gave me the impression it would be snowing quite a bit. My wife and I arrived in El Portal about 7pm and it started snowing.... big, beautiful, floating snowflakes. It lasted about 20min... I left the motel about 6am only to find that I could see the stars and there was no snow - in El Portal. Fortunately, the closer I got to the valley, I started seeing some snow. It had snowed during the night, maybe a half to an inch of snow; just enough to leave a nice dusting on the trees. I spent several hours in El Cap meadow before the sun hit and melted the snow off the trees. I think I saw Harley and Jimmy's footprints from Christmas...

Anyway, had a great day. Exposed about 20 sheets of film. Now I have to wait and find out if any of them came out.

Oh - I just gotta mention what happened. I usually buy a National Parks pass ($80) every year. Mine was set to expire this month, but it was still good till the end of January. Well, I'm heading out of the valley to pick up my wife from the motel and then return to the valley for lunch and more shooting. I have my park pass in my hand and window rolled down as I'm approaching the entrance booth. I dragged my arm across the open window and somehow, the park pass fell inside the door where the window was receeded! I thought I had dropped it on the ground and stopped to look on the road, but it wasn't there. I was only about 20ft from the ranger's entrance booth and he saw most of what happened. I pulled up and told him that my park pass had just slipped inside the door. He saw my frustration and said, "I believe you..." Fortunately he was nice about it and let me pass two more times during the day. It's a good thing that it was expiring this month, otherwise I would have not been a happy camper. I still can't believe I did that.

I'm also considering a visit some time mid-late February for Horsetail falls. We'll just need to keep an eye on the snowfall and hope for favorable conditions.

Lon

Thanks for the update Lon!

Glad to hear you caught a little bit of the fresh stuff. I look forward to seeing some of your images once you get them back.

I know what you mean about the various forecasts. Last time I went up there on Jan. 3 weather.com was forecasting heavy snow for Yosemite. Unforetunately it never made it into the valley. I discovered afterwards that Wunderground at least shows snow levels based on elevation. So that is a bit more useful. But in the end it remains an educated guess. I am just used to Winter in CO when you never even ask the question. If there is precipitation it WILL snow even sometimes thru June in the mtns. But @ ~4500' that becomes a real question for the Valley.

Another alternative appears to be heading up a little higher into places like Badger Pass or maybe to some of the Redwood groves. Does anyone know how high the Yosemite web cam is which states "Half Dome, Clouds Rest And The Eastern Sierra Nevada From Below Sentinel Dome?" This looks pretty high - http://www.tranquilityimages.com/cams.shtml. I am wondering if it above Glacier Point for example just to gain some perspective.

Thanks,
Derek

Don't know what the west side is like, but I just got back from Mammoth last night and they picked up 5 feet of snow in the last 5 days. The storm started out with high snow levels, but dropped Sat. night to make for some incredible skiing. Looks like another high pressure system will dominate our weather for the next 2 to 3 weeks.

Lon,
Let me know when you plan to go up for Horsetail. I was planning a mid Feb trip, thinking about shooting Horsetail from the south side of the valley, up the 4 mile trail.
Best Regards,