Sunrise light on a grove of tufa towers emerging from the water of Mono Lake with soft green and dusty-red wild grasses in the foreground, Canada geese in the shallow water with reflections of the rocky towers, and desert hills in the distance.

A snowy January at Mono Lake

Sunrise light on a grove of tufa towers emerging from the water of Mono Lake with soft green and dusty-red wild grasses in the foreground, Canada geese in the shallow water with reflections of the rocky towers, and desert hills in the distance.
Thanks to the recent snowfall, it looks like real winter in the Mono Basin for the first time in years! Photo by Nora Livingston.
Thanks to the recent snowfall, it looks like real winter in the Mono Basin for the first time in years! Photo by Nora Livingston.

So far January has been a wonderfully snowy month, bringing precipitation to the Mono Basin that we haven’t seen for six years, since the beginning of the recent drought. We thought some photos of the snow-covered basin might be in order….

Snow blankets the mountains above the Lundy Road after snowstorms last week. Photo by Bartshe Miller.
Snow blankets the mountains above the Lundy Road after snowstorms last week. Photo by Bartshe Miller.
We have been shoveling almost continuously at the Mono Lake Committee headquarters in Lee Vining. Photo by Bartshe Miller.
We have been shoveling almost continuously at the Mono Lake Committee headquarters in Lee Vining. Photo by Bartshe Miller.
Andrew and Robbie skied to the lakeshore to read the lake level gauge last Wednesday. Photo by Robbie Di Paolo.
Andrew and Robbie skied to the lakeshore to read the lake level gauge last Wednesday. Photo by Robbie Di Paolo.
Robbie checks out the lake level gauge. Mono Lake rose about six inches last week, to 6377.5 feet above sea level. Photo by Andrew Youssef.
Robbie checks out the lake level gauges. Mono Lake rose about six inches last week, to 6377.5 feet above sea level. Photo by Andrew Youssef.
The Mono Lake Committee measured XX inches of accumulated snow by last Thursday at our weather station. Photo by Bartshe Miller.
The Mono Lake Committee’s weather station showed 20 inches of accumulated snow by last Thursday. Photo by Bartshe Miller.
Crews keep the lanes of Highway 395 plowed clear, and loaders remove the turn-lane berm of snow gradually. Photo by Bartshe Miller.
During storms, crews keep the lanes of Highway 395 plowed clear, and loaders remove the turn-lane berm of snow gradually. Photo by Bartshe Miller.
A flock of Cedar Waxwings stopped by last week. Photo by Nora Livingston.
A flock of Cedar Waxwings stopped by last week. Photo by Nora Livingston.
After the snow stopped falling, poconip ice fog formed and stuck around for several days in the calm, cold conditions. Photo by Nora Livingston.
After the snow stopped falling, poconip ice fog formed and stuck around for several days in the calm, cold conditions. Photo by Nora Livingston.
Poconip coats everything it covers in a delicate layer of rime ice, like on the bush in the foreground. Photo by Nora Livingston.
Poconip coats everything it covers in a delicate layer of rime ice, like on the bush in the foreground. Photo by Nora Livingston.
Poconip shrouds Mono Lake in the distance, but the sun shines brightly elsewhere in the Mono Basin, like in this view from the June Mountain chair lift. Photo by Nora Livingston.
Poconip shrouds Mono Lake in the distance, but the sun shines brightly elsewhere in the Mono Basin, like in this view from the June Mountain chair lift. Photo by Nora Livingston.

Snow is forecast to keep falling throughout this weekend, and we welcome it all! We’ll take all the water for Mono Lake that we can get.

12 Comments

  1. Greetings!

    The pictures are great! They bring a real sense of hope and relief. I know we are a long way from the ultimate goal, but this is a nice first step! Keep thinking SNOW…SNOW…and more SNOW!

    Thanks again for all you do and thanks for making my day!!!

  2. Thank you for posting those nice photos. This year’s snow is a good start, but we have several years of drought to make up. Here is hoping that this wet spell continues through the winter and early spring.
    Peter

  3. Thank you for posting the photos! I am living vicariously in my boring office through your lens! The snow is beautiful. I smile every time I see snow on the web cam sites!

  4. Great pics and better news. Thanks for posting these great pics. How i’d love to see Mono covered in snow.

  5. Thanks for the great winter views of Lee Vining. The snow falls make the place look like a real Mountain town. I liked the Poconip fog photos, I never get to experience them when visiting in the heat of July. Thanks and keep us all posted- you are there and we are not.

    Thanks, Richard W.

  6. Great to see the snow all around. Lot of rain in the Bay Area too. We all need this return of winter water. Even LA is finally getting wet. Hopefully the seagull population won’t have to be taken care by Man but by natures watery roadblock!!!

    • All this water is so welcome, all around the state! We will still be building a fence to protect the California Gull population this year—despite all this great snow, the lake won’t be high enough to protect the nesting colony naturally.

  7. As it pours here in Long Beach I was was wondering how Mono Lake was doing. I am so glad to see this beautiful sight! I will be sending good juju for more snow more snow MORE SNOW!!!!!