April snow surveys are in for the Tuolumne Meadows area in Yosemite National Park, and the numbers demonstrate what an unprecedented March can do to the Sierra Nevada snowpack.
Yosemite’s winter rangers covered twenty-four miles of rough, deteriorating snow to complete their April 1st surveys, pushing through conditions ranging from creeks running near peak flow to bare pavement already showing through on Tioga Road. The survey conditions signal just how dramatic this season has been.
Snow courses around the Tuolumne Meadows area registered at 65% of the April 1st historical average following the March 1st surveys. By April 1st, that figure had fallen to just 37%. Roughly half of the seasonal snowpack managed to vanish in a single month, a loss driven by an unprecedented stretch of hot and dry weather throughout March.
37% of average on April 1st is a deeply concerning benchmark heading into the summer melt season. Tuolumne Meadows and the greater Yosemite high country depend on a healthy spring snowpack to sustain streamflow, support backcountry water sources, and regulate the timing of runoff into the Central Valley watershed below.
A brief storm did deposit 6 inches of new snow across the area, and forecasts suggest additional precipitation may arrive in the coming weeks. Whether that translates into meaningful snowpack recovery remains to be seen, but any accumulation at this point is welcome.
