Spring has sprung, flowers are blooming, and my thoughts turn to when I’ll be able to drive through Yosemite and see Tuolumne Meadows again!
This year the April 1st measurement of snow water equivalent (SWE) in Tuolumne Meadows is 19.9 inches. My model of the Tioga Road opening date as a function of SWE predicts that the road will open on May 22 this year, with a 50% chance that the actual opening date will fall in the May 16 – 28 range.
This year’s prediction is a full 2 months earlier than when the road opened last year, July 22nd.
As before, I’ve excluded a bunch of years (grey dots and numbers on the graph) because of various management and Park operations issues. So the model and reported averages are all based on the black dots and years only.
Snow data here: https://cdec.water.ca.gov/reportapp/javareports?name=COURSES.202404
Tioga Road opening dates here: https://www.nps.gov/yose/planyourvisit/seasonal.htm