Tuolumne Winter Conditions Update for February 26, 2020
snow: trace
Total settled snow depth: 25 inches (at 8,600 feet)
High temperature: 50°F (February 25)
Low temperature: 8°F (February 20)
Ski Conditions and Weather: After last year’s epic winter, it is easy to be down in the dumps given the lack of snow this season. But, don’t despair yet. After measuring the snowpack during our snow surveys this week, we found that there have been four drier and four wetter winters (based on the water content of the snow that is presently on the ground) over the nine winters we have worked here. Like a good friend and avalanche forecaster once reminded us, one only sees “normal” on a graph. Mother Nature usually plots those dots above or below the mean.
The weather this week has resulted in a good window of spring ski touring conditions. Though shallow, snow coverage is still descent on the majority of aspects between 8,000 feet and 10,000 ft. The road corridor, the meadows, and drainages all have mostly supportable corn-like snow making for fast and fun travel. The alpine terrain, on the other hand, is an unfortunate mixed bag of bare ground, wind textured hard snow, and icy smooth (often breakable) melt-freeze crusts. There may be a few corn turns out there on true south aspects, but for now it’s probably best to stick to ski touring.
If approaching Tuolumne Meadows from Lee Vining Canyon, one might want to consider a bicycle to get to the snowline. Visitors have reported mostly bare pavement between the gate and Tioga Lake. Although bicycles are allowed on the east side of Tioga Pass, they are not allowed in the national park wilderness during winter (including the Tioga Road).