Classic Dane Pic

Here's a link to a fun group of Big Dog pics on Huffington Post. The Dane below is just one of them. As my sister said, "Thanks for my lunch break entertainment! Love the Newfoundland that looks like a brown bear!! And the Dane getting something off the top of the fridge is hysterical, too!! Kinda want one... kinda don't! :)"

Big Dog Pics at Huffington Post

No dog treats are safe from a Great Dane

Whoa, Kite Skiing Is Something!

There’s a whole lotta ways to play on snow. Some involve riding on a chairlift with the crowds and carving down the mountain on your sliding device of choice. (Which I love) Others take you away from the crowds and the sundeck beer stands to find your own way through the mountain forest and meadows. (Which I also love in the form of cross-country skiing and snowshoeing)

One of the latter approaches that I’ve never tried is kite skiing.

No doubt there is specialty gear that allows for the best control. But the principle is to get a kite - paraglider types seem to be the most popular, although they don’t need to be as large as the ones that you use to fly - and you work your control lines to manipulate the kite into pulling you across the snow.

There are many kite surfers in the Bay Area, leaping off the waves. That this is also a seriously effective type of snow transport is evidenced by the fact that kite skiers have skied all the way across Antarctica, thousands of miles.

These pics are of a kite skier on a Tahoe meadow a few days ago. Though the wind was just a decent breeze, this guy was flying!

Talk about fun!

Now We're Talking Precipitation!

Just when we get bent out of shape about a drought, here comes the "Atmospheric River of Moisture!" As I write this, they are predicting Tahoe's storm total of 3-4 feet of white stuff at higher elevations.

Bring it on!

Check out the areas of yellow and red to the west of Tahoe.
That's some serious rainfall!

Here is the forecast for elevation 9100' at Heavenly as of Saturday.
We love to see those little boxes that say "Chance of Snow 100%!"

Good Snowfall For A Dry Year

Yeah, I know. One storm does not a drought break. But at our house (elevation 6450) it rained most of the day last Wednesday, then turned to snow in the night. By Thursday noon, the forecast of five - nine inches had turned into a foot of snow. It continued to snow on and off on Thursday and into Thursday night.

We toasted the snow gods with a glass of merlot.

This stuff on the deck and grill was heavy with high water content.
The best kind of snow when we need moisture!

We usually measure Tahoe snow in feet. But this year we're counting inches, and another two inches fell Friday. Yea!

On the mountains, all the precipitation above 8000 feet was snow, and the resorts reported up to 24 inches for the storm total.

The last cloud blowing away on Friday

Even if we are lucky enough to get several good storms in the next twelve weeks, every reasonable estimate suggests that our snowpack won't rise to average by spring. But in the meantime, we'll appreciate every flake we get!

Don't stand long under a tree with this much snow on its boughs.
A little of the sun's heat will loosen it, and hundreds of pounds of
snow can avalanche from a hundred feet up. It can knock you down.