1. Water Volume: This is the sheer amount of water going over the falls and is normally measured in cubic feet per second (CFS). A bit down river from the falls is a stream gage maintained by the USGS. Real-time measurements from this gage are available on the Internet 24 hours a day, as are archives of measurements going back over 50 years.
   
   The stream gage measurements, however, reflect the flow after all the water diverted by the local power company (PSE), has been returned to the river. This diverted water doesn't go over the falls themselves, and so the stream flow measurements don't reflect what you actually see. Still, the data gives some idea what to expect. There's a huge difference between a stream flow of 25,000 CFS and 1000 CFS, and if you pay attention to the published flows you can plan your visit accordingly.
   
   Some of the water diverted by the power company does actually appear and can be enjoyed in its own right. When the total flow reaches around 4000 CFS you can usually count on some of it shooting out from an overflow pipe in the wall of the gorge, resulting in sometimes very impressive secondary cascades.
   
   When the flow is much higher -- around 25,000 CFS -- another overflow mechanism goes into effect and a whole new waterfall is created nearly opposite the main falls. These extra falls are rarely seen because the flow doesn't usually get that high except after the prolonged and heavy rains we occasionally get in the spring and fall.
   
   The other main factor contributing to stream flow is the snow pack. When we get lots of snow in the winter, as we did in 1998-99, the melt keeps the flow decently high well into the summer. It's a rare treat to have both sun and high water. Normally, the snow pack is pretty much depleted by mid or late spring and the flow is much less during the summer months.
   
   
   
2. Light: Light is another major factor in the appreciating of the falls. Unfortunately, when you can pretty much count on sunny days (mid-July to mid-September) there's not much water, and when you can count on a fair amount of water (the rest of the time) it's likely to be cloudy or rainy. But occasionally you get both and that's a real treat.
   
   There are two light-dependent wonders at Snoqualmie Falls. The first of these is the appearance of rainbows. Rainbows appear when the sun is behind you shining into mist in front of you. This results in two very different rainbow times at the falls, morning and afternoon. Afternoon rainbows are the more usual sort that you see most often in photos of the falls. They are seen from view point 4 or down on the rocks. (See map.) While these rainbows are impressive to look at, I don't think they photograph especially well and so I don't have any on my site. But the really spectacular rainbows are viewable only at view point 1 in mid-morning from latish spring to early autumn with good light and lots of spray. A little later in the day you sometimes see interesting rainbows from near the observation platform.
   
   The other light-dependent falls phenomenon is spray and mist. With lots of water, decent light and a good breeze you can get wonderful effects just about any time of day. But the best time is usually the morning in spring or autumn, especially when the sun hasn't yet risen high enough to illuminate the face of the falls but catches the spray as it billows out at the base. You can't really capture this on film. You have to see it.
   
   
   
3. View point: A third factor in the enjoyment of the falls is your view point, where you're standing when you look at it. Each point offers a different experience. The map shows a number of these points, which you can click to see what's there.

Back to:   JavaScript Photo Viewer      Non-JavaScript Gallery