Weather on Mt Whitney varies greatly during the year and can certainly be unpredictable at times. Temperatures at the lower elevations are generally warm. At higher elevations in the night, even in the summer months temperatures can fall below freezing. Typical winter temperatures above 9,500 feet range from -14 degrees F to 12 degrees at night and from 15 - 50 degrees F during the day.

Ninety five percent of total precipitation (which includes both rain and snow) falls between the months of October and May, with more than half falling in January, February, and March. The frequency of summer showers increase at higher elevations and correspondingly there are more cloudy days. But even though these thundershowers are of short duration they are still a danger to the hiker/climber on the summit or high ridges on Mt Whitney and other Sierra Peaks. That being said, if you detect a thunderstorm developing, vacate the summit and high ridges at once. The first recorded fatality on Mt Whitney was due to lightning.

Snow is one of the most spectacular features in the Sierra Nevada (the second snowiest mountain range on the continent) but due to the fact that Mt Whitney resides in the southern portion of the Sierra Nevada, it does not get nearly the amount of snow pack that the Palisade or Mammoth Lakes region do.

Latest Trail Conditions as of May 12th
A fair amount of snow covering the Trail, especially above outpost camp (10,000 feet). Crampons (or Micro Spikes) and an ice ax is a must above Trail Camp where you will find that the snow pack is plenty deep. Would recommend spending a night at Trail Camp, and then getting a pre-dawn start ascending the switchbacks up to Trail Crest to avoid major post-holing due to a good amount of melting off during the mid-morning to afternoon hours. Permits are now required and be prepared for plenty of hard work to reach the Summit.

MT WHITNEY AERIAL VIEW - We are proud to have the following link added to our Mt Whitney lineup. It is a mixed slide-show showing many key features of Mt Whitney and the surrounding areas from both the ground and the air. So click on the following link, turn up the music, use the biggest monitor you got in full screen video mode, and enjoy high resolution photos of Mt Whitney.
Mt Whitney Aerial Slide-show also check out our Mt Whitney Aerial Flight Video (a moving view completely around Mt Whitney and its surrounding neighbors).

TRAIL GUIDE - for an in-depth write up on hiking from the Trailhead at Whitney Portal to the Summit, please check out our page on the Mt Whitney Trail.

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