Subscribe To This Site
Frazil Ice
by Merrill
 The video showing flazil ice indicated that the best times to see it is during March and April. I live in Michigan and would like to visit Yosemite again to view flazil ice, but I would not be able to visit until the latter part of April and would hate to come all that way only to find that the flazil ice has been flushed down the river. What are my chances of seeing flazil ice in mid to late April? Thank you for your response. Merrill Haviland Reply From Kathy: Hi Merrill, Your chances are very good seeing the river of frazil ice in mid to late April this year. Unfortunately, there are no gaurantees though. Right now, Yosemite National Park and the surrounding area are being hammered with a late winter snow storm. It is so bad, that yesterday, park officials closed Yosemite. The last time that this was done was 14 years ago. Everyone in the park (including employees) have been escorted out. It is all over our news here. I feel bad for the people that fly to come here and then get turned away. It is just an out of the norm hard/late winter this year. Trees are falling over because of the shallow root systems and the weight of the snow. They are predicting one more week of this bad weather. They are not saying when the park will reopen. And they are loosing alot of money closing the park. Currently there is no electricity or hot water. There are three entrances into Yosemite. One is always closed for the winter (Tioga Pass). The other two are Highways 120 and 140. Both roads currently have mud slides on them and fallen trees. Who knows how long it will take to get those cleared. My husband works for CalTrans (Department Of Transportation) and CalTrans will work overtime clearing those roads when the storms pass. In about a week from now, the harsh weather will likey be gone. Things will warm up slowly and the frazil ice river will probably be best ever! :) The water coming off the waterfalls is freezing now. The air is currently too cold for frazil ice to form right now. 2011 will be a banner year for full waterfalls and the frazil ice in Yosemite. As the air warms up and the water stays cold, the ice crystals will form and the frazil ice will be flowing once again. And to my recollection, it lasts for a good 2 months. Like I said, I can't gaurantee a date. But living here for more than 45 years, I can't recall the storms lasting past March. So my educated guess is April and May are the months to come this year. I will do my best to go see the frazil ice early/mid April and report what I see here on this website. Hope that helps! |
