Air Quality
Camera Images
Fire Information
Road Conditions
Trail Conditions, Bug and Snake Reports, and Plants Blooming
Weather, Sunrise and Sunset, UV Index
Weather ForecastAzusa, Burbank, Glendora, Newhall, Pasadena, Pomona, Upland. Currently not active: Mt. Baldy, Mt. Wilson.
Current and Forecasted Air Quality
Forecasted Air Quality for all stations (#15 is San Gabriel Mountains).Map of Ozone for greater L.A. area, including the SGM and San Bernardinos (click on California, select Los Angeles and the type of map you want, then on See The Map)
The SGM is by no means immune from poor air quality, but the air quality is vastly better than it was even 10 years ago. Generally the smog season runs from April through October, with poor air quality from about noon through 5 p.m. (the peak has been getting later as the air quality has improved). The best predictor of today's air quality is yesterday's air quality, which is given in the links. The AQMD forecasted air qualities are usually worse than what actually happens.
The opacity and color of the air is only weakly correlated with the ozone level, which is the prime pollutant, because ozone is nearly colorless. The air can be brown and yucky from nitrogen dioxides yet will not rob you of lung capacity. On the other hand, the air can be pristinely clear, yet have high enough ozone levels to leave you gasping for air as you hike. A hiker is impacted at lower levels of ozone than someone who is not exercising. For more information, see the AQMD's Smog and Health.
If you can't see the haze layer below you, you're in the smog zone. Worse, the smog tends to be worst just as the top of the haze layer, so when you are in that, you may be in a smoggier environment than anyplace in L.A. For more about the top of the haze layer, see High Temperatures in the San Gabriel Mountains.
Current Camera Images
- Mt. Wilson TowerCam Image (5700')
- Mountain High webcam from the top of the New Mountain High Ski area (8,000'). Warning: if you see snow in that picture, it is highly likely to be man-made!
- Tenhi Mountain (Palmdale, 4000', camera is well below summit)
- Pine Mountain Club-Mt. Pinos Web Cam (Pine Mountain, Mt. Pinos, ~5500', ~20 miles west of Tejon Pass). See also several other nearby cameras linked on their page.
- Wrightwood Downtown (~5930', Park Dr. and Evergreen Rd.) and Residential (6100' near the base of Heath Canyon)
- Strawberry Peak, San Bernardino Forest, TowerCam Image (6153') The TowerCam is located ~20 miles east of Mt. Baldy at (34° 13' 55" N, 117° 14' 01" W) - see its General Location and Specific Location. The camera can observe Mt. Baldy when it is pointed in that direction.
- Palm Springs Aerial Tram Mountain Station TramCam Images (8500') (just east of San Jacinto Peak)
Current Fire Information
- Pacific Southwest Region Fire Information and Detailed Situation Report from Current Wildland Fire Information
- USFS Fire News
- Fire and Aviation Management Morning Report
Road Conditions
- Information sources for the San Gabriel Mountains
- General trail conditions: Road closures and information
- Angeles Crest Highway (SR2) (see also SR2 winter closure dates and March 2006 road damage)
- Snow Chain Control Areas
- Peripheral Roads: I-15, I-210, SR-14, SR-138
- Caltrans Los Angeles County clickable map
- L.A. County Road Closures (select region 5, then click search)
- Los Angeles Freeway Traffic Report
Trail Conditions, Bug and Snake Reports, and Plants Blooming
- Tom's General trail conditions (Trail Conditions in 2001)
- Tom's Bug, snake and varmint reports (The 2001 Bug Season)
- Current Snow Coverage by elevation ranges in California and Nevada from the National Operational Hydrologic Remote Sensing Center
- Tom and Jane's Snow Level vs. Date for 2000 and lowest level during storms from 1990 - 1999 vs. Date
- Tom's Average Trail Conditions By Month in the San Gabriel Mountains
- Jane and Tom's:
- Most Common Plants Blooming (lists the plants you are most likely to see blooming currently)
- Observations of Plants Blooming With Locations (latest observations are here)
- Summary of Plants blooming in last month
- A Bloom Identification Guide
- An analysis of the Number of Plants Blooming By Month In 1999
- Jane's:
Current Weather, Sunrise and Sunset, UV Index
- Pasadena Sunrise, Local Noon, Sunset Times and Times of Maximum UV Exposure
- Acton (on SR14 south of Palmdale, ~3550')
- Frazier Park School Weather Cam (~4600', 6 miles west of Castaic Lake)
- JPL (Pasadena, 1200') weatherstation, latest 24 hour weather and 10 day rain gauge
- Ontario Airport (~900') current weather and latest 24 hour weather
- Sandberg (on Bald Mountain next to Liebre Mountain, ~4500') current weather and latest 24 hour weather
- Tenhi Mountain (Palmdale, 4000', camera is well below summit) weatherstation and camera
- Mt. Wilson (~5600') current weather and latest 24 hour weather
- Big Pines (6917') latest three-four days of hourly observations
- Wrightwood (~6100' near the bottom of Heath Canyon) current weather and last four-five days temperatures, wind gusts and wind chills.
- California Department of Water Resources Hourly Temperature, Wind, Rain and Humidity:
- NW SGM (Lake Castaic): Warm Springs (4020')
- Santa Clara River Basin: Saugus (1450'), Acton (2600'), Camp 9 (4000'),
- Mid-SGM: Mill Creek (3510'), Chilao (5450')
- San Dimas Creek River Basin: Tanbark ANF (2730')
- SE SGM (Lytle Creek): Devore (2070')
- Arroyo Seco River Stream Height and Discharge; Cogswell Reservoir Storage
The Arroyo Seco River Stream Height is a fascinating plot, giving a week of data for the height of the stream above a reference point. The stream rises rapidly by about a foot for every 2" of rainfall and then decays slowly. See the plots I have archived for:
The rainfall measurements were averages of those reported by Pasadena and Mt. Wilson. Also see the historical data of streamflow that is online, referenced from that site.
- 6-12 February 1998, showing the rises after 2" of rain on 2/6 and another 2-3"? on 2/7, and
- 21-27 February 1998, after 2" of rain on 2/22, and another 4" of rain on 2/23 that fell during 2 closely-separated periods.
- Jane's Weather in the San Gabriel Mountains (current weather, descriptions, extremes, and historical records)
- Tom's High Temperatures in the San Gabriel Mountains.
- Tom and Jane's Snow Level vs. Date for 2000
See also Camera Images for visual inspection of current weather.
Latest Weather Forecast
- Current NWS forecast for L.A. SGM (Look for LOS ANGELES COUNTY MOUNTAINS EXCLUDING THE SANTA MONICA RANGE about halfway down the page) and for San Bernardino SGM (Look for "SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY MOUNTAINS")
The San Bernardino SGM forecast supposedly contains the weather forecast for the easternmost part of the ANF, but it is probably pitched more toward the forecast for the San Bernardino Mountain range.
- Fire Weather Forecast for the San Gabriel Mountains and San Bernardino Mountains. See also California Wildfire Information Group.
- Selected Cities Forecast gives detailed temperature and rainfall predictions for Burbank, Mt. Wilson, Newhall, Pasadena, Ontario and Wrightwood.
- 5-day forecast for Ontario from the Weather Channel.
- Monthly high and low temps for Ontario from the NWS.
Go to:
Copyright © 1996-2005 by Tom Chester and Jane Strong.
Permission is freely granted to reproduce any or all of this page as long as credit is given to us at this source:
http://tchester.org/sgm/conditions/index.html
Comments and feedback: Tom Chester | Jane Strong
Last update: 23 February 2007
