Mariposa's original daily updated online newspaper
 

 

Weather: (February 20 through February 26) High temp: 44° (Feb 25) Low temp: -6° (Feb 23) New Snow: 55” (3.64” water equivalent) Total settled snow depth: 75” as of February 27 Ski Conditions and Weather: After two weeks of spring-like weather, winter made an appearance this past week at Tuolumne as we received over four and a half feet of new snow from a series of storms that lasted most of the week. The sun finally came out yesterday, and the new snow is settling quickly. Trail breaking is not too bad if you get out early, but by about 11 A.M. the sun turns the snow into sticky mush- not the most pleasant conditions for ski touring. The warm sunny weather is predicted to continue for the next week, so I don’t expect the conditions to change much- nice skiing early and late in the day, with not so nice conditions in the sunny areas in the middle of the day for the next few days until this new snow settles. Avalanche and Snowpack Conditions: For the latest avalanche advisory for this area go to www.esavalanche.org for the Eastern Sierra Avalanche Center and click on advisory. The ESAC site is updated several times a week and more often during weather events. Wildlife: Animal tracks seen in the past week include coyote, pine marten, weasel, squirrel, mice/vole, and hare. Birds seen in the past week include Mountain Chickadee, Brown Creeper, Red-breasted Nuthatch, White-breasted Nuthatch, Red Crossbill, Townsend’s Solitaire, and Clark’s Nutcracker. Questions: If you have any ski related or weather questions feel free to call 209-372-0450 between 8:00 am and 8:00 pm. If we are out skiing, leave a message and a phone number so we can return your call. Please don’t call us with questions about road conditions, as we live 20 miles from the nearest plowed road and don’t do any driving this time of year. For current park road conditions call 209-372-0200. (Jeff and Kathi, the Tuolumne winter rangers - 2/27/08)

Sierra Sun Times Home