CA Zephyr Scenery in Mid March

[scott4335]

Mark scenery from Denver to Emeryville, CA. Will there still be a lot of snow? Is this a good time to see the scenery?

 

[KmH]

Yes.

Yes. Well during the day light hours anyway.

Expect to see more snow, and for more miles, in the Rockies than in the Sierra Nevada mountains the next day.

The next 2 months will tell how much snow they get in the Sierra Nevada mountains.

 

[chakk]

And in some years you will even see snow outside of the mountains in central Nevada and eastern Utah. I would say about 20% of my winter trips on the CZ have seen snow in central Nevada at track level (always seen snow on the mountain peaks); 10% of the winter trips have seen snow outside the mountains in eastern Utah.

 

[OlympianHiawatha]

Chances are you may see a LOT of snow going over the Sierra in March.

http://donnerrails.com/videos/rotaries-avalanche-on-the-mountain/

 

[KmH]

You can keep track of how much snow Donner Pass has here - http://www.onthesnow.com/california/tahoe-donner/weather.html

http://www.rideboreal.com/winter/index.html

http://www.sugarbowl.com/home

http://www.weatherstreet.com/weather-forecast/california-snow-cover.htm

http://www.wunderground.com/weather-forecast/US/CA/Truckee.html

http://www.donner-lake.com/caltranstrafficcameras.asp

More Sierra Nevada web cams - http://www.skimountaineer.com/MtnWebCams/Sierra-MtnWebCams.html?size=med

The Zephyr goes under (via a 2 mile or so tunnel) the Sugar Bowl ski area.

Most of the ski resorts near Donner Pass are closed because they have very little snow.

The forecast shows Donner Pass may get 5 inches on Friday, 2/6.

The long term forecast for the Sierra Nevada mountains does not include much snow this winter.

 

[chakk]

We definitely need another "March Miracle" in the California mountains this winter season as regards precipitation, or we will be faced with the Mother of All Rationing" in June.