Vacationers, Count Your Blessings

 Snow is fun to play in. Epic snow even more so. And if you're staying in lodging with a wood fireplace, it's nearly perfect.

For Tahoe locals, those things have to be maintained, and it ain't always easy.

Our wood stove chimney pipe has been ripped off the roof three times in one month. Thank you "Epic Snow" for sliding down a very steep roof.

Each time, I snowshoe up onto the roof to fix it. Yes, you read that correctly. We live in an especially snowy part of Tahoe, and the snow is up to the second floor and higher in some places.

I strap on my tool belt, grab a metal shovel, and slog my way through bottomless snow and up onto the roof to try to shovel out the area where the brackets that support the stove pipe have torn off the roof. All the while, I'm trying to gauge which way I'm going to dive if the snow above me decides to avalanche down on me. I even keep my phone in my pocket with the location setting turned on in case I end up under 10,000 pounds of snow with broken bones. My lame idea being that if I get buried, I might still be able to reach my phone and dial 911. Ha ha.

Each time I reattach the chimney, I use beefier lag screws and brackets. Each time, I hope maybe this time the chimney will stay put until summer when I can redesign the entire support bracing.

You may be thinking, why not just call in a roofing contractor to fix it? I have. They don't have a good system for custom chimney supports. And they're too busy with worse problems, like roofs that have been caved in by falling trees that collapsed under the epic snow load.

In the meantime, we'll double check that the chimney is solidly in place before we light a fire. We won't light a fire during a storm when snow is accumulating. And once it accumulates, we won't light a fire until we clear the roof near the chimney.

 And, of course, we always keep two fire extinguishers nearby.

But hey, Epic snow is great.

Big Snow Still Isn't A Record?

 One of the significant measurements of this season's snowfall so far (November to mid-January) says the Tahoe Basin has gotten 30 feet of snow.

No small thing, that!

What's interesting to me, is that amount isn't a record. Just another mid-season measurement in a very snowy place!

We're eager for a period of sunny days to get streets cleared up.

But come another week or so, we'll be ready for more. 

Bring it on...

Too Much Snow

 Other places in California have too much water. The rivers can't carry it away fast enough, so it floods.

In Tahoe, we have too much snow. The snowplows push it into huge berms. Then the rotary plows shoot it into dump trucks. Long lines of dump trucks. But they can't carry it away fast enough. So the streets clog up.

We have many neighborhoods where there are only a few narrow one-lane paths. They produce gridlock because cars can't fit by each other in the street.

The snow is pretty, and it is wonderful to ski on and play in. It is also wonderful that we are building up a decent snowpack.

But we're hoping for a break in the weather so we can clear it away.

If you come to Tahoe before that happens, you may be profoundly disappointed. As a 32-year local, my recommendation is to wait.

Want To Enjoy Tahoe? Then Come Some Other Time

 Lots of snow is great. But we have too much at the moment. The streets aren't cleared, there's no place to park, and you can't go anyplace without chains. We have laws that basically say, if you get stuck in the snow, it's your fault and you will be ticketed and towed. And if the plow comes by and buries you, you will have a major problem retrieving your car, which will be damaged. None of this adds uip to a fun ski getaway.

When the storms pause - next week? the week after? - Tahoe will be the greatest. Come then. You'll be glad you waited.

How Do They Know The Drought Isn't Over?

 This last storm has dropped much rain and snow, and next week a new set of wet systems is supposed to head our way.

Add to that a previous, significant set of storms that made skiers and ski resorts happy.

From appearances, it appears the drought/no drought issue has moved into the 'If it looks like a duck, and quacks like a duck...' category.

So why do they say the drought isn't over?

It all gets down to the reservoirs. A few of the state's reservoirs look pretty decent. Folsom Lake for example. But the big ones, like Shasta, Trinity, and Oroville are still mostly empty. How much rain and snow will it take to refill those? LOTS.

So we'll enjoy the moisture we get, and the meteorologists will still say we're in a drought until those reservoirs fill up.