[7] This mountain was named in 1911 by Robert B. Marshall, chief USGS geographer, to commemorate John Wesley Powell (1834–1902), geologist, surveyor, map maker, explorer, and director of the United States Geological Survey from 1881 through 1894.

[10] Most weather fronts originate in the Pacific Ocean, and travel east toward the Sierra Nevada mountains.

As fronts approach, they are forced upward by the peaks, causing them to drop their moisture in the form of rain or snowfall onto the range (orographic lift).

Precipitation runoff from this mountain drains south into the Middle Fork Kings River, and north into Bishop Creek.

Maps from the 1980s show Powell Glacier drawn on the north aspect of the mountain, however satellite images show that the glacier has since disappeared, a result of climate change.