Sere
Mount Rainier and Upper Tipsoo Lake, Mount Rainier National Park, Washington
Sere (adjective): being dried and withered.
Synonyms: droughty, dry, waterless
When I hiked here a couple of weeks ago I was shocked at how little snow was on the mountain and how much rock was exposed. It looked more like late August after a hot summer than early July. I was equally shocked at how little water was in Upper Tipsoo Lake. You can see the area in the foreground where the lake should be - where I stood to take the photo is typically under water.
Going into June it was actually a higher than average snowpack year after a snowy early spring in the mountains, but during the "heat dome" in late June, over 30% of Mount Rainier's snowpack melted in less than a week and is completely gone from the lower slopes now.
It has been a hot and dry Spring and Summer here in the Pacific Northwest, with little rain, and as as much as I would want to hope this is just an aberration, I worry that this is becoming the "new normal".
Sere
Mount Rainier and Upper Tipsoo Lake, Mount Rainier National Park, Washington
Sere (adjective): being dried and withered.
Synonyms: droughty, dry, waterless
When I hiked here a couple of weeks ago I was shocked at how little snow was on the mountain and how much rock was exposed. It looked more like late August after a hot summer than early July. I was equally shocked at how little water was in Upper Tipsoo Lake. You can see the area in the foreground where the lake should be - where I stood to take the photo is typically under water.
Going into June it was actually a higher than average snowpack year after a snowy early spring in the mountains, but during the "heat dome" in late June, over 30% of Mount Rainier's snowpack melted in less than a week and is completely gone from the lower slopes now.
It has been a hot and dry Spring and Summer here in the Pacific Northwest, with little rain, and as as much as I would want to hope this is just an aberration, I worry that this is becoming the "new normal".