Tag: snow

Friends,

The weather swells on TV mentioned a little something about how something might’ve happened in my little burg over the last couple days. One of them even mentioned there was quite a bit of snow. Amazing.

There was even something about the greatest amount of snowfall in decades up here. I’ve been able to measure 22 inches, which is higher than I’ve ever seen. Granted, I haven’t lived here long, but the consensus in town is that this season has been extraordinary. Oh, there have been road closures too. Here are a couple posts from a paper of record:

A slide occurred today near Mountain Center, leaving rocks on Route 74, the California Highway Patrol reported.
The slide was reported at 7:55 a.m. [February 9th] in the area of Route 74 near Strawberry Creek Bridge, according to the CHP.

But this is really fun for everybody as well…

All of Highway 74 between Hemet and Palm Desert is closed due to icy roads and heavy snow falling on the Palms to Pines Highway to Pinyon and Idyllwild.
Highway 74 was closed at 1 p.m. until further notice, except to residents, according to the California Highway Patrol.
Several vehicles and big rigs have gotten stuck in snow banks and chain restrictions are in affect.
Highway 243 is also closed near Poppett Flats from Banning to Idyllwild for all northbound traffic due to heavy snowfall and snow removal.

For the uninitiated, that’s all roads in (and out, let’s not forget that. -ed) to this one-horse town. By the way, a horse would be handy right about now.

I threw a set of chains on the Jeep Grand Livingroom and headed into town yesterday and while stopped to tension those chains, I ran into a neighbor I’d never met before. She was walking her dog out in the slop and ice and we started chatting about the snowplow issue. “My street hasn’t been plowed,” she started. “The funny thing is I just gave my Isuzu Rodeo to my son and bought a Mini Cooper. It’s now covered in snow in my driveway. Do you think I should have the guys from AAA come up and put the chains on? It’s pretty expensive…” Clearly desperate measures must be taken, so I asked, “Do you like soup?”

I think she’s gonna be stuck up here for a while, but what a place to be stuck in.

– bob

Friends,

Well, well, well. I told people that the temperatures should surely rise today. Certainly the weather sites must be correct (why’s that? what has changed? -ed). But no.

We received another four or five inches of snow overnight and throughout the day today. It’s pretty, and also pretty chilly. Do we need this? Absolutely!

At least we’ll have water all Summer.

– bob

P.S. Fog has plopped down in the twenty minutes since these pictures were shot. The local snow plow has also been by, trying to build an icy wall at the end of my driveway. I and the Jeepster disagree with this idea. To relax, I chant “4-low, 4-low, 4-low, 4-low…”.

Friends,

I’m just gonna post the pictures. With temperatures in the teens overnight and the insulation in my roof ranging from poor to none, there’s enough runoff to build some monstrous icicles. Take that crappy Chinese Christmas ornament companies!

More this afternoon (if I don’t kill myself putting tire chains on the Jeep first)…

– bob

Friends,

Our most frequent commenter, Mrs. Anonymous, wants more pictures and that’s what she’ll get! I hope she was talking about snow pictures…

This is to the left of the frame you see in the webcam. That pile of snow in the foreground was pushed there by the local snowplow operators. It looks to be almost four feet high right now. Thanks CalTrans!

I see this view out my living room window and the icicles sprung up (down) overnight. Charming!

This view is a little to the left of the one above it. If you could remove all of that pesky snow from the tree, you’d see Lily Rock along the ridge.

And this is the rest of the oak tree you see in the upper right of the webcam frame.

The roads out of here are shut down today, so I’m trying to get some work done with the power going off periodically and a dead or dying phone line. Even the wireless router has decided to stop working! It’s like living out on the frontier!

Yeah, right.

– bob

Friends,

The storm of the half-century has certainly delivered. There should be almost two feet of snow accumulation by the time this front has moved through. I’m staying put at my Secret Alpine Laboratory™, though. I don’t need the grief of, you know, crashing while trying to get off the hill.

It was pretty nice up here yesterday, blue skies and pretty crisp.

It’s snowing right now and the puppy dog is not at all happy.

Not as happy as she was dining on yellow snow yesterday. Geez.

– bob

Friends,

Here’s the reason why I ventured outside on Tuesday morning…

The snow caught in the tree bark was catching the sun and was turning to steam. Click on the picture to see a larger version.

Of course, there was a little danger involved…

Not the ice daggers above, but the icy walkway below. Here’s a shot from immediately after I checked whatever hip padding I may or may not have…

Thank goodness my cellphone cushioned my fall. [btw, the replacement refurb is much better than the old one] Also by the way, I now wear stretchy tire chains on my shoes whenever I venture downstairs. They’re brilliant and you should try them. Highly (and also muchly) recommended.

And lastly, this is the project I’ve been working on lately. Yes dear friends, it’s a door. Some people had said during the last Christmas season that gift cards are lousy gifts. I beg to differ. Home Depot gift cards are always welcome around here…

Yeah, the stain isn’t quite right but wait for the tannins from the wood to work and start turning the wood yellow with age. Give it half a year. Heck, I’ve got the time.

Your pal,

bob

UPDATE: Howdy socalmountains.com forum folks. Please drop a line in the comments to let everyone know who you are. Thanks for stopping by!

Friends,

If you’ve been missing out on the happy webcam feed (and what would be the reason for that, exactly?), you might’ve missed this:

A pleasant dusting yesterday was supplemented by another foot last night. Let’s see what the meteorologists at The Town Crier have to say about this brutal winter storm…

Breaking News — Sun., Dec. 9, 8:45 p.m.

As of 8:46 a.m. chains or 4-wheel-drive vehicles with snow tires on all four wheels are required on Hwy 74 from Hemet to Palm Desert, and on Hwy 243 from Mountain Center to the northern boundary of the San Bernardino National Forest. Which means, basically, from Mountain Center, through Idyllwild and Pine Cove, to just above Banning to the north.

About a foot of new snow fell last night on top of the three inches that fell the night before. It is still snowing pretty hard and the wind is gusting. The storm system is moving from west to east, and is expected to start breaking up today, with scattered showers continuing into tonight. Highs are predicted in the 40s, with lows in the 20s.

Most roads are snowy, icy or wet. Drive with extreme caution and make sure you have chains with you.

More information will be posted here as conditions change.

Chains. Right. Wonder if there’s anything really pressing going on at the Festival Of Dirt tomorrow…

Your [frosty] pal,

– bob