We really have skipped past winter here again. Aside from last winter, this has been a season much like those winters of 2011-2016: mild and dry. There's still time for some catch-up precipitation, but it's extremely unlikely to make up for the absence of storms so far. I was up at 7500' along the shoulder of Half Dome with BK the other day. We explored an abandoned trail and stopped by G. Anderson's spring and cabin site; there was barely any snow to speak of.
Above Rancheria Flat (El Portal), numerous flowers are blooming: poppies, red maids, Erodium, woodland star, Nemophila, popcorn flower, fiddlenecks, blue dicks, Stellaria, dead nettle, birds-eye gilia, etc. Some buckeyes are still tight buds, while others are dazzling green with 10cm leaves out. Elderberries are also leafing out. Redbud still seem a ways off.
The Merced River is running below average. It's displaying the diurnal cycle of snowmelt, draining the water that's supposed to flow off in April/May. The aridity of the season means a poor showing for the Horsetail Fall 'firefall' phenomenon but crowds are coming nonetheless; viral imagery from other years seems to matter more than natural reality on the ground. NPS and YC have arranged an impressive structure for managing access to the main viewing areas. Without more than a wet streak at Horsetail, at least the system gets a dry run. (Yes, intentional.)
Summer stars are rising before dawn now: Scorpio and the Triangle. The Falcon Heavy orbital burn was visible for a few minutes over Yosemite last week, an unexpected celestial apparition.
