[pct-l] Snow Status

[Barry Teschlog]

Well, its interesting to watch the progression of the Class of 2019.
Lots of fear there with the Sierra snow pack.  However, at interesting trend may be forming.  Look at the snow plots at:
http://cdec.water.ca.gov/snowapp/swcchart.action
I'd suggest comparing and contrasting the current year with '05-'06, '10-'11, and of course the whopper year of '16-'17.
Note how the current year has already started turning down in the early stages of the melt.
Note how for the south Sierra, this year is already below the 3 previous big years AND is showing early melt well before the 3 noted big years.
Note that the limitations on this tool are such that its not "trail snow" - but it does provide a general sense of the snow pack for comparison to prior years.

Checking the weather forecast:
South Lake Tahoe looks to pick up some minor snow accumulations today / tonight, then turns to spring conditions for the remainder of the 10 day forecast.  Mammoth Lakes has more or less the same 10 day outlook.  Other than showers tomorrow, San Diego is looking nice for the next 10 days.

The stream flow gauge for the South Fork of the Kern River, which drains the Sierra up to the Chicken Springs Lake area is showing increasing melt and the daily melt pattern of higher flow caused by higher daytime temps.   It'll be interesting to monitor the flows of the Carson River, Walker River and Merced River's as proxies for the melt in the Tahoe down to Yosemite area.  Campo Creek, a proxy for the first 100 miles, is still showing solid flows, so So Cal water should be plentiful.

Happy hiking 2019 - The Sierra may not be as bad as you think, especially if you chose a sensible start date and manage your KM arrival date to mid June or a bit later.
Pro tip...there's a reason the hikers in the 200X years clustered their starts from mid April to mid May.