San Jacinto late November conditions

[markv]

Hi everyone. I'm looking at a possible PCT segment from one of the Idyllwild entry trails (Devil's Slide, Marion Mtn., etc.) up the mountain and down to Pines to Palms Hwy, over Thanksgiving week. I've looked at the tramway weather history, but it doesn't seem to cover many years data. Any idea what conditions i could expect? Snow unlikely, but nights below freezing, right??? Also, any other advice on water conditions and which Idyllwild trail to take would be helpful.

[OntarioWeatherService]

November can have some cold cold nights. Being the La Nina has been rapidly forming expect cooler nights earlier. The first good storm should come as well, and maybe even snow chances. November is an interesting month for weather in Southern California.

[Pilgrim]

The last time I stayed overnight in early November the temperature dropped into the low 20's during the night though the day was in the upper 60's. This was in round valley.

I took the tram back up 2 weeks latter to do a day hike to the summit and the high temperature was in the low 50's. There also was a snow storm heading in latter that night. The peak was clouded in and a tree near the top was covered in frost. On the way back to the Tram I passed a troup of Boy Scouts out to try their hand at winter camping due to the storm coming in.

There is no good way to predict what the weather will be like this year. It could be warm or cold. We could get snow or the dry weather could continue. You'll just have to watch the weather reports come November.

[Hikin_Jim]

It can be pretty cold in November. Some years back, the local ski resorts were open by Halloween. I was up on San Jacinto in late October last year, and there was ice on the ground near the water source in Round Valley. We camped at Little Round Valley where it was quite cold and very windy which made it colder still.

You should probably keep an eye on the weather reports, and make your final packing list up only a few days before your trek.