Obata Lake on January 8, 2025New Snow: none
Settled Snow Depth: 30 inches
High temperature: 53°F (January 10)
Low temperature: 7°F (January 13)
Ski Conditions and Weather
January 16, 2025 - By Laura and Rob Pilewski, Tuolumne Meadows winter rangers - This is the first week since we arrived at Tuolumne Meadows that there is no new snow to report. Atypical winds were the driving force of this week’s weather. The Santa Ana winds that drove the wildfires in the Los Angeles area were a part of the same weather pattern that produced the strong northeast winds here in the Sierra Nevada. A remote weather station on the Sierra Crest near Mammoth Mountain recorded a peak gust of 135 mph on January 7 (Mammoth Mountain Weather)! These sustained high winds can and have stripped loose surface snow, in places, all the way to bare ground, including from slopes that typically hold the deepest wind-loaded snow.
Wind affected snow in the Rafferty drainage on January 6, 2025.
Snowline is presently around 9,000 feet on the east side of Tioga Pass. If entering Yosemite National Park via Tioga Pass, one might consider a bicycle a useful tool to travel between the closed gate in Lee Vining Canyon and snowline. The Tioga Road is 100% snow covered in Yosemite with snow depth averaging between two and four feet. “Don’t let the sunshine fool ya.” Above 8,000 feet, skis, snowshoes, split boards, and/or traction devices are advised for safe travel in the Yosemite wilderness, where only non-mechanized travel is permitted.
There's no place like Dome, Tuolumne Meadows on January 10, 2025.
Avalanche and Snowpack Conditions
Please refer to the Eastern Sierra Avalanche Center (ESAC) and the Bridgeport Avalanche Center for the avalanche advisories for this part of the Sierra Nevada.
The avalanche hazard is presently low in the central Sierra Nevada but there are plenty of other hazards lurking in wintertime!
Cascade Falls, Glen Aulin on January 10, 2025.
Wildlife
Before the winds started to blow (again), there were some calm days in the alpine where one could hear the "sweet, tinkling notes" of the horned lark (Eremophila alpestris) " 'horned' for the species' distinctive black 'horn' feathers; eremophila, a lover of desolate places, from Gr[eek] eremos, solitary desolate; phileo, to love; L[atin] alpestris, of the Alps or high mountains.” (Beedy) If one spotted a Tuolumne Meadows Winter Ranger, they might call them Chionophila alpestris for example.
Like some alpine snobs, the horned larks generally shun any landscape with trees although they inhabit many elevations. We have seen large flocks of these, what we call, invisible birds, last summer in the southern Sierra Nevada and now this winter here in Yosemite. For years, we have heard their whispering calls but rarely see them. Just before dawn last September, determined to track these birds down, we walked through the golden grasses trying to catch a glimpse of them. Perhaps because they were a bit cold and tired (like us), they would scatter at our feet, take flight for a couple of yards, and then hunker down again. No sooner than they landed, they immediately camouflaged with their surroundings. Not just a couple, but dozens of them, would disappear into the landscape right before our eyes.
Questions
The Tuolumne Meadows Ski Hut is open. This primitive cabin is the campground reservation office in the summer and is located along the Tioga Road at the entrance to the campground. It is marked with a sign. There is firewood and 8 bunks that are available on a first-come, first-served basis. For those visiting the Tuolumne Meadows Ski Hut from the east (only) permits are self-issued at the Ski Hut. For those entering from other areas, please see Yosemite’s website: https://www.nps.gov/yose/planyourvisit/wildfaq.htm#winter or you may contact the wilderness office at 209/372-0740. As of this writing, there is electricity and limited (Verizon) phone service in Tuolumne Meadows.
Come prepared, and please make good decisions while traveling in the wilderness!
Read through the following three pages before embarking on any day or overnight snow travel within this park:
You may contact us with any additional winter Tuolumne Meadows related questions but response times may vary if we are away on patrol.
References
Beedy and Pandolfino. Birds of the Sierra Nevada, their natural history, status and distribution. The Regents of the University of California, 2013.
Think snow!
Laura and Rob Pilewski - Tuolumne Meadows winter rangers
Sunset over Cathedral Peak on January 10, 2025.Source: NPS
