Sagehen Creek Field Station
Sagehen Creek Field Station is a research and teaching facility of the University of California at Berkeley's Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research, the Berkeley Natural History Museums & the University of California Natural Reserve System. Sagehen is also a member of the Organization of Biological Field Stations.
The Station was established in 1951 with the signing of a long-term special use permit with the USDA Forest Service; today, this relationship includes the Tahoe National Forest which manages the land, & the Pacific Southwest Research Station, which created the Sagehen Experimental Forest on 28 Nov. 2005.
Sagehen serves as the hub of a much broader network of research areas known as the Central Sierra Field Research Stations. CSFRS consists of:
- Sagehen Creek Field Station
- Central Sierra Snow Laboratory
- Onion Creek Experimental Watershed
- Chickering American Reserve
- North Fork Association Lands
The Station is not generally open to the public. However, Sagehen hosts periodic public events.
Sagehen also maintains a public news blog and video log.
Climate
Sagehen Creek has a continental Mediterranean climate (Köppen Dsb) with subarctic climate (Köppen Dfc) characteristics.
| Climate data for Sagehen Creek, California, 1991–2020 normals, 1966-2020 extremes: 6337ft (1932m) | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °F (°C) | 62 (17) |
64 (18) |
72 (22) |
78 (26) |
84 (29) |
90 (32) |
96 (36) |
95 (35) |
90 (32) |
85 (29) |
70 (21) |
62 (17) |
96 (36) |
| Mean maximum °F (°C) | 54.6 (12.6) |
54.7 (12.6) |
63.3 (17.4) |
68.1 (20.1) |
76.8 (24.9) |
83.2 (28.4) |
88.7 (31.5) |
87.1 (30.6) |
82.9 (28.3) |
74.9 (23.8) |
63.1 (17.3) |
53.1 (11.7) |
89.1 (31.7) |
| Mean daily maximum °F (°C) | 40.1 (4.5) |
40.5 (4.7) |
48.3 (9.1) |
52.9 (11.6) |
62.0 (16.7) |
71.8 (22.1) |
79.8 (26.6) |
79.2 (26.2) |
72.6 (22.6) |
61.4 (16.3) |
49.4 (9.7) |
38.8 (3.8) |
58.1 (14.5) |
| Daily mean °F (°C) | 27.7 (−2.4) |
27.7 (−2.4) |
33.4 (0.8) |
37.5 (3.1) |
45.1 (7.3) |
52.2 (11.2) |
58.4 (14.7) |
57.3 (14.1) |
51.6 (10.9) |
42.9 (6.1) |
34.8 (1.6) |
26.5 (−3.1) |
41.3 (5.2) |
| Mean daily minimum °F (°C) | 15.4 (−9.2) |
14.9 (−9.5) |
18.5 (−7.5) |
22.1 (−5.5) |
28.2 (−2.1) |
32.5 (0.3) |
37.0 (2.8) |
35.3 (1.8) |
30.6 (−0.8) |
24.5 (−4.2) |
20.1 (−6.6) |
14.3 (−9.8) |
24.5 (−4.2) |
| Mean minimum °F (°C) | −4.4 (−20.2) |
−0.8 (−18.2) |
1.3 (−17.1) |
10.9 (−11.7) |
20.8 (−6.2) |
24.1 (−4.4) |
28.1 (−2.2) |
27.1 (−2.7) |
23.5 (−4.7) |
15.6 (−9.1) |
3.9 (−15.6) |
−4.5 (−20.3) |
−9.9 (−23.3) |
| Record low °F (°C) | −21 (−29) |
−33 (−36) |
−9 (−23) |
−3 (−19) |
10 (−12) |
18 (−8) |
24 (−4) |
25 (−4) |
16 (−9) |
7 (−14) |
−10 (−23) |
−28 (−33) |
−33 (−36) |
| Average precipitation inches (mm) | 5.02 (128) |
5.16 (131) |
4.43 (113) |
2.10 (53) |
1.56 (40) |
0.48 (12) |
0.29 (7.4) |
0.44 (11) |
0.60 (15) |
1.81 (46) |
3.02 (77) |
5.63 (143) |
30.54 (776.4) |
| Average snowfall inches (cm) | 40.9 (104) |
45.0 (114) |
36.9 (94) |
7.1 (18) |
1.9 (4.8) |
0.4 (1.0) |
0.0 (0.0) |
0.0 (0.0) |
0.5 (1.3) |
2.5 (6.4) |
21.8 (55) |
32.8 (83) |
189.8 (481.5) |
| Source 1: NOAA (Independence Creek precipitation) | |||||||||||||
| Source 2: XMACIS2 (1981-1998 snowfall, records & monthly max/mins) | |||||||||||||
References
- ^ "Central Sierra Field Research Stations". The Regents of the University of California. Archived from the original on 18 July 2011. Retrieved 1 July 2011.
- ^ "Sagehen Events". The Regents of the University of California. Retrieved 2 December 2010.
- ^ "Sagehen News". The Regents of the University of California. Retrieved 1 July 2011.
- ^ "Sagehen TV". The Regents of the University of California. Retrieved 1 July 2011.
- ^ "Sagehen Creek, California 1991-2020 Monthly Normals". Retrieved 8 October 2023.
- ^ "Independence Creek, California 1991-2020 Monthly Normals". Retrieved 8 October 2023.
- ^ "xmACIS". National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Retrieved 15 November 2023.