Current Conditions

[daniel banquo merrick]

Satellite image loop shows overcast all day over the central Sierra with continuous clouds moving north to south. Doppler loop shows light rain over the whole area all day. Minarets reported a high of 50 today. NWS says 50% chance of rain or snow tonight.

[susan]

Soyo must be charmed. Here now and looks a-ok

[mungeclimber]

Sun and clouds.

[John]

Forecast is wet wet wet. We scored this weekend, never felt a drop on Shuteye, just cold. Others got stormed out to the far east of soyo I hear.

[willmskinner]

Hey everybody,

How high has the snow line been in the recent storms?  Think the roads and approaches to the crags at shuteye will be clear by Saturday?

[mungeclimber]

No appreciable snow below 8k feet. Roads should be clear to most crags, IMHO.

Whether the weather coops, another story...

[susan]

Hi willmskinner, Pretty sure it's a good bet roads will be clear of snow even with the next storm system coming through this week. Some dirt roads could be pretty muddy from the rain though.


 

[mungeclimber]

I bet the fire zones to the south of SE get hammered. Wouldn't be surprised if the Minarets road sees some debris.

A Flash Flood Warning for northern Mariposa County and the Yosemite area -

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN HANFORD CA HAS ISSUED A

* FLASH FLOOD WARNING FOR... SOUTHWESTERN TUOLUMNE COUNTY IN CENTRAL CALIFORNIA... NORTHEASTERN MARIPOSA COUNTY IN CENTRAL CALIFORNIA...


* UNTIL 1045 PM PDT

* AT 543 PM PDT...YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK REPORTED A THUNDERSTORM PRODUCING HEAVY RAIN ACROSS THE WARNED AREA. FLASH FLOODING IS OCCURRING ON HIGHWAY 140 NEAR EL PORTAL. EXCESSIVE RAINFALL OVER THE RIM FIRE BURN SCAR WILL RESULT IN MUD AND DEBRIS FLOWS. THE DEBRIS FLOW CAN CONSIST OF ROCK...MUD...VEGETATION AND OTHER LOOSE MATERIALS.

* SOME LOCATIONS THAT WILL EXPERIENCE FLOODING INCLUDE...YOSEMITE VALLEY...YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK...WAWONA...HETCH HETCHY...THE RIM FIRE BURN SCAR...YOSEMITE GLACIER POINT...EL PORTAL...CRANE FLAT...SNOW FLAT...JERSEYDALE...GIN FLAT AND TENAYA LAKE.

* AFFECTED AREAS: MARIPOSA ... TUOLUMNE

Instructions:
 MOVE TO HIGHER GROUND NOW. ACT QUICKLY TO PROTECT YOUR LIFE. TURN AROUND...DONT DROWN WHEN ENCOUNTERING FLOODED ROADS. MOST FLOOD DEATHS OCCUR IN VEHICLES.

[susan]

It was smokey on the ridge last weekend, presumably from the Rough fire. Mainly in the mornings, but Sunday the smoke lingered at least to mid afternoon. Ugh. Our first morning there this weekend we thought O No not another fire on the ridge, as it seemed close by. Can't imagine Hoffman right now.

[GreyGhost]

For now...Monday I pulled the plug on my 10 day trip to Shuteye.  My partner has lung problems/asthma and I was concerned to put her in compromised air.

Anyone have recent information on smoke conditions around North Fork or on along the Minarets road?  Being a Shuteye newbie first place I was going to was Big Sleep area.  Vehicle is a stock 2007 manual 4WD Toyota Tacoma Xtracab with 17" all terrain tires..no lift

What happens when the area gets a third of an inch of rain in 24 hours?  that's what weather underground is reporting today for Bass Lake.  Do any of the dirt roads have clay and turn to slicks?

Thanks, Tom

[John]

The smoke has been pretty steady on the ridge for many weeks now but not overwhelming in my experience. The more north you go the smoke gets a little bit thinner and it is worst in the AM. Two weekends ago it cleared up really nice towards the end of the day but last weekend was constant haze. The moisture should help a lot this week.

I wouldn't worry about the rain too much. Most of the dirt roads are rocky/sandy and don't get saturated very quickly to the point that you can't get through.

Your truck can get you everywhere on the ridge including the Fire Lookout road past High Eagle (arguably the gnarliest road on the ridge) along the top of the ridge. I have a stock 4WD 4Runner with super saggy springs and dead shocks that got us up there so I don't see why you couldn't. Many roads are overgrown so paint may be compromised if you care about that kind of thing. You still could bang up your vehicle pretty good on that trail. Road wise, Big Sleep, Chiquito and Chilkoot are probably the most accessible areas on the ridge.

[mungeclimber]

Greyghost, in my experience, allergic lung responses to fire smoke can be difficult even when it is just 'hazy' - e.g. I find it difficult to hike very far when a smoke haze is present. You probably made the right call. John's got lungs of steel.

[mike a]

rained yesterday, and early this morning, made a world of differents nice and clear today :-)

[GreyGhost]

Thanks everyone.  I was all packed  and now I'm pushing the pile over to the corner of the living room.

I got the Tacoma a year ago with 43K on it and no blemishes.  I managed some pin stripping first time I took it offload.     

I saw on Supertopo, smoke in the valley is bad at the moment for some;  doesn't bother me till it gets really bad - except for mesquite smoke.  Julie is another matter.

[John]

Dang, you found an '07 Tacoma with only 43K miles?!? Score! They move super fast in the used market and really keep their value. We sold one a few years ago of about the same vintage and people were offering their first born, kidneys, etc. within minutes of posting the ad! I think we sold it that day and made a tidy profit.