Sierra Club Bulletin. 



SNOWFALL IN THE SIERRA NEVADA. 



By Joseph N. Le Conte. 



The pleasure of camp life in the High Sierra in the 

 early summer, at about the time of our Annual Outings, 

 is largely influenced by the snowfall of the winter imme- 

 diately preceding. If the snowfall has been heavy, and 

 particularly if in addition it has been late, we are certain 

 to be troubled by high water in the rivers, deep snow on 

 the passes, and lack of feed for our animals in the alpine 

 meadows of the highest Sierra. Similarly the danger 

 of the mountain ascents is largely af¥ected by the state 

 of the snow on the peaks. So widely do different sum- 

 mers vary in this regard, and so important to the traveler 

 is the state of this summer snow, that many trips through 

 the higher parts of the range cannot be attempted at all 

 until the melting has progressed to a certain stage. 



With the hope of aiding the future traveler in the 

 Sierra, the writer has collected the data on snowfall, and 

 also on the rate of melting of snow on the ground at a 

 single station in the Sierra for the past eleven years, and 

 has attempted to show the relation between these and the 

 difficulty of summer travel. The results are, of course, 

 rather unreliable, but enough is brought out, it is hoped, 

 to be of some assistance. 



The station chosen is "Summit," on the Central Pacific 

 Railroad, elevation 7,000 feet. This is taken as being 

 the highest point at which a continuous record of snow- 

 fall and snow on the ground has been kept for a number 

 of years past by the railroad company and later by the 

 U. S. Weather Bureau. Although rather too far north 

 to give the best data for the High Sierra, it will still 

 serve as a general guide. The data herein given has 

 been collected from the files of the Weather Bureau 

 through the kindness of Professor A. G. McAdie. 



