Re: Jason

Hey Jason,
Snow at Crowley Lake really differs from year to year. I have seen years where there is 4 feet of snow on the ground there most of the winter, and then there are years where they only have a couple of inches. It all depends on how the storms come in and how big they are.
Normaly there should be some snow on the ground over the new year, but so far this winter has been pretty dry for the Eastern Sierra. Our biggest storm of the season was just last week, and most of the snow fell in the higher mountains. Hopefully it will all change in January.
The last couple of year have been big snow years for the Eastern Sierra. And two years ago we had a lot of storms coming out of the south, that is good for big snow at Crowley. We'll just have to see what the new year beings us.
Steven on 12.31.06 @ 01:53 PM PST [link]

Happy New Year

Hope you guys enjoyed the picture of the deer. There will be more of them to come. I will also be putting some up in the Visions Galley this next week.
I have been going out to Round Valley and shooting pics of the deer for the last couple of days. We are seeing a lot of good sized bucks out there. Yesterday morning we saw the biggest buck I have ever seen. He was at least a five point and might have been a 6. He was quite a ways off from us and we were looking into the sun, so it was hard to tell for sure how big his rack was. We tried to get a better vantage point to look at him, but as we repositioned, he vanished into the brush. We are calling him the Phantom Buck. As my uncle said, he didn't get that big by being easily seen. I'm going to continue to look for him so I can capture him on film.
I have got some nice shots of does and a couple other good buck shots. January is the best month of the year to see and photograph big bucks in the Eastern Sierra. They are on their wintering grounds, aren't to shy of humans in trucks, and they haven't lost their racks yet. It gets harder in Feb because they begin to loose their antlers then.
And speaking of them not being to shy, the buck in the picture the last couple of days was only about 20 feet away from me. And at one point he was only about 6-7 feet away. He was totaly at ease with me staying in the truck and taking pictures of him. I got some nice shots when he was real close, but I made a mistake and he is totaly out of focus

I want to wish everyone a very happy new year. And I hope your new years eve is safe and enjoyable.

Talk to you all next year :-)

Steven on 12.31.06 @ 10:16 AM PST [link]

Sunset over Owens Valley, Eastern Sierra, Ca
Steven on 12.31.06 @ 10:02 AM PST [link]

Mule Deer, Eastern Sierra, Ca
Steven on 12.29.06 @ 11:40 AM PST [link]

Mt Basin, Eastern Sierra, Ca
Steven on 12.27.06 @ 09:30 AM PST [link]

First Big Storm

Winter Storm Warnings remain in effect until 4pm this afternoon.
Our first big storm of the winter hasn't let us down. Mammoth Mtn is reporting 18 inches at the main lodge and a lot more than that higher up on the hill. Kirkwood is reporting 16-24 inches. Another foot is forecast to fall today.
From what I'm reading it seems pretty nasty out there this morning. High winds and white out conditions throughout the Sierra.
I guess they had a wind gust on Mammoth Mtn of 120 mph last night that broke their gauge, then another gust of 135 mph broke the backup.

I took a drive up to Buttermilk this morning. There was a dusting of snow there. Where I was at the wind was just barely blowing, but you could hear it roaring up in the mountains. It was a pretty awesome sound. We has some rain here in Bishop last night. Not to much though.
Steven on 12.27.06 @ 09:12 AM PST [link]

Winter Storm Warning

Good morning. Hope everyone had a wonderfull Christmas weekend. Looks like Mother Nature is going to give the Sierra a nice Christmas present tonight.

Winter Storm Warnings are posted for the whole range until 4pm Wed. Snow should start today with snow levels beginning around 8500 feet. But the heavy snow will move in tonight and snow levels should begin to drop. Up to 30 inches are possable at the higher elevations.

If your traveling in the Sierra today, you should be ok until tonight. Then conditions along the highways should turn bad. High winds are also blowing in the mountains right now. Looks like this is the first big storm of the season.
Steven on 12.26.06 @ 08:47 AM PST [link]

Winter Storm Watch

...SIGNIFICANT SNOW POSSIBLE IN THE HIGH SIERRA TUESDAY AND
WEDNESDAY..

.A FAST MOVING COLDER STORM WILL MOVE THROUGH THE REGION TUESDAY
AND WEDNESDAY AND PASS EAST OF THE AREA ON WEDNESDAY NIGHT. TRAVEL
CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED TO DETERIORATE RAPIDLY IN THE SIERRA ON
TUESDAY EVENING AS SNOW DEVELOPS OVER THE PASSES AS WELL AS DOWN
TO LAKE LEVEL IN THE TAHOE BASIN.

CAZ071>073-NVZ002-261400-
/O.NEW.KREV.WS.A.0023.061227T0600Z-061227T2000Z/
LASSEN-EASTERN PLUMAS-EASTERN SIERRA COUNTIES-
GREATER LAKE TAHOE AREA-MONO-
INCLUDING THE CITIES OF...PORTOLA...SUSANVILLE...WESTWOOD..
SIERRAVILLE...SOUTH LAKE TAHOE...TAHOE CITY...TRUCKEE..
MARKLEEVILLE...BRIDGEPORT...COLEVILLE...LEE VINING..
MAMMOTH LAKES...GLENBROOK...INCLINE VILLAGE
237 PM PST MON DEC 25 2006

...WINTER STORM WATCH IN EFFECT FROM TUESDAY EVENING THROUGH
WEDNESDAY MORNING..

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN RENO HAS ISSUED A WINTER STORM
WATCH...WHICH IS IN EFFECT FROM TUESDAY EVENING THROUGH WEDNESDAY
MORNING.

SNOW WILL BEGIN IN THE SIERRA ABOVE 7500 FEET TUESDAY MORNING AS
THE STORM APPROACHES AND WILL LOWER TO LAKE LEVEL TUESDAY
NIGHT. SNOW WILL INCREASE IN INTENSITY OVERNIGHT...WITH PERIODS
OF MODERATE TO HEAVY SNOW POSSIBLE THROUGH WEDNESDAY MORNING.
STRONG WINDS OVER THE PASSES WILL ALSO CREATE AREAS OF BLOWING AND
DRIFTING SNOW MAKING TRAVEL HAZARDOUS.

TOTAL SNOW ACCUMULATIONS THROUGH WEDNESDAY MORNING COULD BE
A FOOT OR MORE ABOVE 7500 FEET...ESPECIALLY IN THE TAHOE BASIN.
ELSEWHERE IN THE SIERRA...UP TO 8 INCHES OF SNOW IS POSSIBLE
BETWEEN 5000 AND 7500 FEET.

A WINTER STORM WATCH MEANS THERE IS A POTENTIAL FOR SIGNIFICANT
SNOW ACCUMULATIONS THAT MAY CREATE HAZARDOUS WINTER DRIVING
CONDITIONS. CONTINUE TO MONITOR THE LATEST FORECASTS.
Steven on 12.25.06 @ 02:45 PM PST [link]

A Special gift for you guys

Hi all,
Storm totals for last night's storm are ranging from 10 inches on Mammoth Mtn to 16 inches at Kirkwood. Not bad. That should freshen things up on the slopes for the holliday weekend. There is another storm forecast to come in on Christmas Day and be on and off through Wed. So if you are heading this way next week, be prepared. And though this is a ways off, there is talk of a big storm over New Years weekend.

Now on to what the title of this post is about.
At the bottom of this post there is a link, it links to a ZIP file that contains a special gift for you guys. It is a Hi-Res file of today's picture that can be printed as an 8x10. Just click on the link to begin your download. The file is 2.5MB so it may take a minute or so to download. Once it's downloaded, just open the ZIP file and extract the file called PineCreek.jpg
That's all. If you have any problems send me an email and I'll get you though it.

I hope everyone has a very merry Christmas and a happy and safe holliday weekend!!

Click here for Your Special Gift
Steven on 12.22.06 @ 11:11 AM PST [link]

Pine Creek Canyon, Eastern Sierra Nevada, Ca
Steven on 12.22.06 @ 10:53 AM PST [link]

Today's Storm

Winter Storm Warnings are posted for the Northern Sierra and the Lake Tahoe Area. 12-18 inches of snow are forecast to fall above 7000 feet with winds up to 80 mph. 6-12 inches could fall at lake level.

A Snow Advisory has been posted for areas south of Tahoe, including Mono County. 6-12 inches are forecast to fall in these areas.

The storm will move into the Sierra this afternoon, with the heaviest snow falling tonight. Isolated snow showers are forecast for Friday.
With that much snow falling in the Tahoe area, be prepared for icy and snowy roads if you are traveling through the Sierra this holliday weekend. Remember ALL VEHICLES MUST CARRY CHAINS. Even if you have 4wd, you must carry chains. CHP will fine you and send you back the way you came to buy some chains. And chains are a lot cheaper to buy where you live than they are at some road side shack at 7000 feet in the Sierra!
Steven on 12.21.06 @ 07:54 AM PST [link]

Winter Storm Watch

The National Weather Service has posted Winter Storm Watches for the Sierra north of Yosemite for Thursday and Thursday night. The storm is forecast to move into the Sierra tomorrow and last through the night. They are calling for 12-18 inches in the Tahoe area. The forecast for the Mammoth are is 3-6 inches.

So far the weather men in our area are calling for a dry Christmas weekend, so driving shouldn't be a problem for those traveling Sierra roads. But things can always change, so if you are driving in the Sierra this weekend be prepared for anything.

Thanks for all of the comments on the webcams guys. I am working on a survey that will run on the webcam page all of the time so we will know which cams are the favorites. It's just a matter of finding something that works. So far all of the scripts I have tried haven't worked to well. I have a few more to try though.
Steven on 12.20.06 @ 09:25 AM PST [link]

Storm Total

Well the weatherman got it wrong again. The Sierra was forecast for 1-3 inches of snow from this storm and guess what, a foot fell
We like it when they miss this way though. Here in Bishop we got a dusting last night.

If you want to see an awesome site, go to the Yosemite Cams and check out the one from the top of Sentinel Dome. That has to be the most amazing cam in the Sierra.

Hey, tell you what, let me know what your favorite sierra cam is on the cams page by commenting below.
Steven on 12.17.06 @ 09:40 AM PST [link]

New Pic

I finaly got a new picture up for you guys. This is the first shot I've taken since 10-28. This was an amazing Sierra Wave that formed over the southern half of the valley. The only thing wrong was that it didn't change colors at sunset. Just to many clouds to the west.
Steven on 12.15.06 @ 05:46 PM PST [link]

Sierra Wave, Owens Valley, Ca
Steven on 12.15.06 @ 05:43 PM PST [link]

Let's try this again

A stormy weekend is forecast for the Sierra. So far there aren't any watches or warnings posted, but that will most likely change. As of this morning, our local weather man is saying a 12-18 inches by Monday, with the heaviest snow Sat night through Monday morning. We'll just have to wait and see how it all pans out.

There is also the possibily of a large storm for next weekend. That's a long way off though.

Steven on 12.08.06 @ 10:00 AM PST [link]

History making day

Yesterday was a history making day in the Owens Valley. For the first time in 97 years, water returned to the Lower Owens River. Once again the Owens flows from it's source near Deadman Summit to it's end at Owens Lake. Saddly though, the water still doesn't fill the lake. But maybe some day it will.

Here is a link the the LA Time article: Lower Owens River
Steven on 12.07.06 @ 07:59 AM PST [link]

Cams

Just a note to let you know that all of the Sierra Cam links are up to date now. I haven't checked the California Cams yet, but I think someone else did and sent them to me.

Still waiting for the snow to arrive. Winter is here and it's been cold.
Steven on 12.04.06 @ 03:17 PM PST [link]