Eastern Sierra & Owens Valley
A deep valley in the deepest rain shadow in North America.
The Owens Valley sits between the Sierra crest and the White Mountains, both over 14,000 feet, and takes what is left after a storm has crossed the first: about five inches a year at Bishop. It is also a wind machine. Air spilling over the crest accelerates down the escarpment, producing the mountain-wave turbulence and lee rotors that made the Sierra Wave one of the most-studied atmospheric phenomena anywhere — and, on dry ground, the dust storms that lift off Owens Lake.
- Elevation range
- 3,500 ft → 14,505 ftHigh point: Mount Whitney
- Relief
- 11,005 ftTop to bottom, inside this region
- Span
- 121 × 179 miEast–west by north–south
- Annual rainfall
- 4–25″Driest to wettest ground here
- Köppen types
- BSkDsbBWk2 counties
Map of Eastern Sierra & Owens Valley within California.
The four seasons here
NOT A GENERIC SEASON WITH THE PLACE NAME SWAPPED INWinter
Cold and clear between storms; the crest takes the snow and the valley takes the wind.
Spring
The windiest season, with severe mountain-wave events and blowing dust.
Summer
Hot on the floor, pleasant at Mammoth, and monsoon thunderstorms over the crest most afternoons.
Autumn
The best weather of the year — still, clear, and cold overnight.
Places in this region
3 PLACES, LOWEST FIRST| Place | Elevation | Jan high | Jan low | Jul high | Jul low | Annual precip | Snow |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lone Pine | 3,727 | 58° | 30° | 102° | 67° | 5.4″ | — |
| Bishop | 4,150 | 56° | 24° | 100° | 57° | 4.8″ | — |
| Bridgeport | 6,463 | 43° | 10° | 85° | 43° | 10.2″ | 32″ |
National Parks in this weather region
FIELD NOTES FROM THE PARK TRANSECTTerrain and gradients
WHAT THE ELEVATION ACTUALLY DOESRanges and passes
A PASS IS A WIND FEATURE FIRSTWho forecasts it
OFFICIAL FORECASTS AND WARNINGS COME FROM HEREGolden State Weather is not a source of watches or warnings. For those, go to the offices above.