When I lived in California I was amazed hearing about some of the snowfall totals in the Sierras. We would have a strong rain storm in the bay area and they would report 12 feet of snow in a single storm. I grew up in a semi-snowy area, but the thought of 12 feet falling in the course of 4 hours just boggled my mind.
I can see how the Donner party got trapped.
We’d go riding our motorcycles in the Sierras and some of the passes were still closed in late May because of all the snow. Some don’t open till late May early June.
The Pacific Ocean is by far the largest body of water in the world. It is right off the west coast and La Nina typically means heavier then normal precipitation for the Pacific Northwest. This particular La Nina is so strong that even the Southwest has been getting some of the precipitation. Typically that only occurs during an El Nino. My guess is that the low sunspot number, which has been occurring for 4 years now, is causing greater water droplet formation in the lower atmosphere (new cosmic ray theory). That combination of factors, shows some incredible precipitation potential for the Pacific North West.
Yeah. Those mountain passes never seem to lose their snow. I was on Going to the Sun Road in Glacier in late May in ‘78 and there was a significant amount of snow.
It was near 80 degrees in the lower elevations.
Global climate change is amazing. (Suck it up, Algore.) LOL!
And Tioga Pass into Yosemite Park usually doesn’t open till late June due to snow. Didn’t open till July 1st in 1998 and June 24 in 2005.