Competition time. Tioga Pass Prognosticator 38: Winter closing 2024

[Southwest Dave]

As we near the end of October there is a change to the weather which will close the Tioga pass on Sunday at 6pm. This a temporary closure due to the risk of weather disruption. On Monday snow showers are likely, and although not accumulating to much, the temperature plummets to a day time high of 39F and a night time low of 17F making for Icey conditions.

The view from the High Sierra webcam today


Dave

[tseeb]

Closing, depending on weather more than two weeks out, is always more of a guess to me than opening, which depends on Winter and Spring snowfall and to a lesser extent, Spring weather.

My guess is Tuesday 11/26 at noon as I expect Tioga to close before US Thanksgiving and that leaves some room between my guess and previous ones.

I see Sonora is still closed today while Yosemite website says all roads are open. I think Tioga may close with storm on Halloween, but it should re-open with sunnier weather predicted afterwards.

I had not been on this website for a while and saw on https://www.roadtripamerica.com/foru...etition!/page8 that I said I would add some photos from May 2024 which I finally did.

[Southwest Dave]

The weather still looks very settled in Yosemite. The forecast predicts that snow is likely on Veterans day, but only a 20 percent chance there will be more to follow on Tuesday.

Dave

[Southwest Dave]

The Tioga pass and Glacier point road both closed on Sunday at 2:30pm and will remain closed until further notice. For the time being, this is a temporary closure, and they will be re-assessed once the storm has passed. The forecast predicts there will be 'on and off' snow right through the week, and into Monday without amounting to much. Although night time temperatures are dipping as low as 1F later in the week, I can't see it opening up anytime soon, if at all?

There is quite a bit of snow today as shown on the High Sierra webcam. (This will probably update automatically as I can't find a way to take a still image at the moment)

Dave

[Southwest Dave]

There is a WINTER WEATHER ALERT IN AFFECT.

From the National Weather Service.
Yosemite NP outside of the valley-Yosemite Valley-San Joaquin
River Canyon-Upper San Joaquin River-Kaiser to Rodgers Ridge-
Kings Canyon NP-Grant Grove Area-Sequoia NP-South End of the
Upper Sierra-
Including the cities of Florence Lake, Devils Postpile, Yosemite
Valley, Lake Wishon, Grant Grove, Johnsondale, Wawona, Shaver
Lake, Giant Forest, Huntington Lake, Cedar Grove, Tuolumne
Meadows, Lodgepole, Hume Lake, and Lake Thomas Edison
847 PM PST Thu Nov 14 2024

...WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 10 PM PST
FRIDAY...

* WHAT...Snow expected. Total snow accumulations up to 6 inches and
up to 13 inches at the higher elevations.

* WHERE...A portion of central California.

* WHEN...Until 10 PM PST Friday.

* IMPACTS...Travel could be very difficult to impossible. The
hazardous conditions could impact the Friday morning and evening
commutes.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

Slow down and use caution while traveling. The latest road
conditions for the state you are calling from can be obtained by
calling 5 1 1.

Be prepared for slippery roads. Slow down and use caution while
driving. If you are going outside, watch your first few steps taken
on stairs, sidewalks, and driveways. These surfaces could be icy and
slippery, increasing your risk of a fall and injury.

Personally, I think this could be enough to close it for the Season.

Dave

[Mark Sedenquist]

Here is a screen grab. The live shot is showing active snow falling.

Courtesy of Yosemite Conservancy -- November 15th at 12:00 pm

Yep, lots of white stuff flying around.

It is sleeting in the valley floor right now.

And snow is coming down on the lower slopes (where the webcam for El Capitan is positioned.)

Yeah, I think Southwest Dave might be right -- this could close the pass!

Mark

[BillyGr]

Here is a screen grab. The live shot is showing active snow falling.

Yep, lots of white stuff flying around.

Mark

That's much better than passive snow falling ;)

[Mark Sedenquist]

Yeah, I was trying to see who might be closest to the prognostication for today.

Mark

[Southwest Dave]

Here is a screen grab. The live shot is showing active snow falling.

Thanks. I tried to grab from the live image, but it kept repeating the previous image I copied on a earlier post.

Dave

[Southwest Dave]

Yeah, I was trying to see who might be closest to the prognostication for today.

Mark

The Tioga pass was closed on Sunday 10th as I understand it. If that ends up being the date for a full closure, I would be the closest, but still a long way off with my prediction of the 15th Nov

Dave