September 26, 2017

Good Afternoon,
     It sounds like summer is having a hard time letting go down in the valley.  If you're looking to beat the heat over the next week or so, take solace in knowing that you have an escape here in the mountains, where autumn is in full swing.  Today marks the 12 hours of daylight mark according to our sunrise/sunset chart, both occurring around 7:25 AM and PM respectively.  Yesterday's high temperature came in at 64 degrees, and our low for the period was 44.  Once again, no precipitation.  We've gone a week and a half now without rain, and the extended forecast shows no change in that regard.  Yes, sunny and beautiful days are nice in the mountains, but it's important for us to see a balance in what the weather throws at us. Fortunately, we're still able to crank out spring water like we have all year, but we're already hearing about other places in the region getting very low. Please join us in doing some rain dances!
     Although it looks like summer isn't going away just yet, historically, this is the time we post up the crew's traditional snow pool.  We'll see who can accurately predict the first snowfall of the 2017 autumn season.  It always varies on Mt. LeConte.  Sometimes the earliest recording will occur in September, there have been some massive dumpings around Halloween in recent years, or you have 2016, where there wasn't even a single snow flurry recorded in the final quarter of the year.  It's hard to believe we'd see a repeat of the latter, but it's anybody's guess.  When do you think we'll see the first of the flurries fly?
     Have a great rest of the day.

It could hit 90 degrees in the valley today, but here on Mt. LeConte, the conversations about snow have already begun.