Winter Storm Watch: WINTER STORM TO REACH CENTRAL CALIFORNIA FRIDAY AFTERNOON. THE FIRST WINTER STORM OF THE SEASON WILL MOVE INTO THE CENTRAL CALIFORNIA INTERIOR FRIDAY AFTERNOON...AND PERSIST OVERNIGHT. SNOW LEVELS NEAR YOSEMITE WILL DROP TO AROUND 4000 FEET FRIDAY NIGHT. TOTAL SNOW ACCUMULATIONS IN EXCESS OF 4 INCHES ARE LIKELY ABOVE 5000 FEET...WITH UP TO A FOOT POSSIBLE OVER THE HIGHER ELEVATIONS.
Yosemite Valley Today: Sunny, with a high near 59. East wind at 7 mph becoming west.
Tonight: Increasing clouds, with a low around 29. South wind between 10 and 15 mph, with gusts as high as 20 mph.
Friday: Rain likely after noon. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 53. South wind between 16 and 20 mph, with gusts as high as 25 mph. Chance of precipitation is 70%.
Friday Night: Snow. Low around 26. South wind 7 to 15 mph becoming west. Winds could gust as high as 20 mph. Chance of precipitation is 90%.
Saturday: Partly sunny, with a high near 47. Northeast wind around 7 mph.
Saturday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 30.
Friday, definitely Friday. Building storms in Yosemite are great, and I'd want to be there at the crack of dawn Saturday morning anyway. The key to photographing snow in Yosemite is to be there before the storm, shoot through the storm, then be in place as the storm clears. The clearing may happen overnight, which means the snow won't last on the trees through morning. In Yosemite in particular it's better to be there a day early than a couple of hours late.
Gary Hart wrote:
Friday, definitely Friday. Building storms in Yosemite are great, and I'd want to be there at the crack of dawn Saturday morning anyway. The key to photographing snow in Yosemite is to be there before the storm, shoot through the storm, then be in place as the storm clears. The clearing may happen overnight, which means the snow won't last on the trees through morning. In Yosemite in particular it's better to be there a day early than a couple of hours late.
That is my exact plan. I'm hoping to get there as it starts, spend a frosty night in Curry and be up at dawn in a winter wonderland.
Check the snow levels, fellas; 7,000 feet Friday, and 5,000 feet Friday night. Ain't likely to snow in the valley, as the valley is 4,000 feet. Although the shooting will still be good, storms coming and going are prime time, there won't be any snow to speak of on the valley floor.
Well Phil, I do know that If I'm not there, there's a 100% chance that I won't see snow. The original forecast was for 6,000 feet. i.e. they don't really know.
Photographically speaking it was a gamble but had a nice couple of days. There was snow but it was all above 5500 feet. Didn't shoot much but we hiked up to the Crane Flat fire look-out. A nice walk in the forest in the snow beats the heck out of staying at home and cleaning the house.
I was convinced there'd be snow and was so tempted to make the drive to Yosemite. I ended up staying home, and instead just drove the foothills at sunset. As it turned out, I had much better luck there than I'd have had in Yosemite. You can see (one of) the fruits of my labor in my 11/23 blog post, http://www.naturephototalk.com.
