Horsetail Fall is seasonal waterfall which flows in winter and early spring. The fall comes off the El Capitan mountain in two distinct streams and drops some 1570 feet onto steep slabs spraying up in a mist before continuing down another 500 feet to the bottom of the mountain.Each year in late February, hundreds of spectators gather in Yosemite to witness this amazing event. But the Yosemite Firefall can be finicky. Although Horsetail Fall is visible from multiple viewpoints in Yosemite Valley, several factors must converge to trigger the Firefall. If conditions are not perfect, the Yosemite Firefall will not glow. First and foremost, Horsetail Fall must be flowing. If there’s not enough snowpack in February, there will not be enough snowmelt to feed the waterfall, which tumbles 1,570 feet (480 meters) down the east face of El Capitan. Likewise, temperatures must be warm enough during the day to melt the snowpack. If temperatures are too cold, the snow will stay frozen and Horsetail Fall won’t flow. (Lack of runoff is also why there is no Firefall in autumn. Although the sun hits Yosemite Valley at the same angle in October as it does in February, Horsetail Falls is usually dry in October because the runoff that feeds it has long since dried up.)
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