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[pct-l] Snow at Donner Pass



I was on Dick's Pass in 1998 also, which is probably about 20 miles 
south of Donner pass on the PCT and can tell you that ther ewas 
ENORMOUS quantities of snow on that pass until the 3rd week in August 
that year!



> <<  An historical snow level chart displayed inside the bathrooms
> shows that the latest recorded date for zero snow at the pass is June
> 15th.  Don't be surprised if that date is surpassed this year. <snip>
> The weatherman claims this should be the last for the season.  We
> shall see. >>
> 
> I haven't seen the Donner Summit data (besides yearly snowfall
> totals), but on July 6th, 1998, there were patches of snow in the
> woods behind the restrooms (as well as some isolated shaded patches in
> nearby Soda Springs), and within about a half a mile north on the
> trail (in the direction of Castle Pass), it became almost entirely
> snowbound, and about 2-4 feet on the ground by 1.5 miles from the rest
> area. From the southern Sierra to Lassen, 1998 experienced a highly
> unusual (perhaps never-before recorded) stretch of 13 days in a row of
> rain and snow (depending on elevation) from June 1st to June 13th or
> 14th. Snowpack was increased during that period with very little
> melting. Many areas had their wettest June on record to add to an
> already very high precipitation season. One unconfirmed report from
> the town of North Fork (in the foothills) recorded a trace snowfall as
> low as 2,600 feet around the first of June. After the 14th, the
> pattern ended abruptly, and it was sunny the rest of the month. But
> the snow stayed a very long time after that, perhaps outlasting the
> '83 longevity in some areas. The road through Lassen Park around the
> 18th of July was a canyon of 5-20 foot walls of snow on either side.
> 
> So my point is that the wet conditions we've had this month are not as
> anomalous as they seem, and we might be hard-pressed to surpass the
> dates of zero snow cover achieved in '98, unless we have another rare,
> persistently snowy June.
> 
> wc
> 
> 
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