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March 19, 2008 Weather: (March 12 to March 18) High temp: 53° (March 17 and 18) Low temp: 6° (March 16) New Snow: 3” Total settled snow depth: 50” as of March 19 Ski Conditions and Weather: Winter made a brief appearance in Tuolumne over the weekend, dropping 3 inches of new snow and bringing cold winds out of the north. That storm cleared out fast however, and we are now back to spring-like weather with afternoon highs in the fifties and overnight lows in the teens the past few days. The forecast is for this warm and dry trend to continue for the next week. The snow has firmed up, providing great touring conditions. Be prepared for soft-to-slushy snow by the middle of the afternoon. We are beginning to see patches of bare ground open up for the first time, as well as stretches of open water along the river. Caltrans has plowed the road from the road closure gate outside of Lee Vining up to the Warren Fork of Lee Vining Creek, so skiers coming in from the east side should be prepared to walk the first 3-4 miles of road above the gate before you hit the solid snow where you can begin to ski. 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: Our first bird of the spring has finally arrived- a male Robin was spotted on the south side of Lembert Dome yesterday. Other birds seen in the past week include Common Raven, Mountain Chickadee, Brown Creeper, Whitebreasted Nuthatch, Townsend’s Solitaire, and Clark’s Nutcracker. Animal tracks seen in the past week include coyote, pine marten, chickaree, mice/vole, and hare. No sign of any bears yet. 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

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