Tuolumne County, CA – According to Yosemite National Park winter rangers’ April snow assessments, the exceptionally hot and dry March resulted in a loss of about half of the seasonal snowpack.
The rangers crossed twenty-four miles of bumpy, melting snow in Tuolumne Meadows to complete the April 1 surveys. They shared, “When venturing into the alpine, we felt like polar bears when we were unable to find any snow bridges across the numerous creeks running near peak flow, which normally doesn’t occur until long after the April 1 surveys.”
Following the March 1 surveys, the rangers’ measurements at snow courses in Tuolumne Meadows were roughly 65% of the April 1 average. That figure dropped to 37% on the April 1 survey. This translated to a loss of about half of the seasonal snowpack due to the unusually hot and dry March. However, there have been some bright spots recently, with a brief storm bringing 6 inches of additional snow and the possibility of more forecast in the following weeks.
