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It’s just before dawn, and once again Twain Harte is covered in all this lovely white stuff. It fell fast and furious through most of the night. It’s always hard to tell exactly how much snow has fallen because the longer it falls and the harder it falls, the faster the snow compresses.

We had at least a foot of new snow at 4,000 feet but realistically it could be as much as two feet. There just isn’t an easy way for me to tell. It’s currently a brisk 31 degrees. All I could hear on my last couple of trips outside to check on things, was spinning tires, which tells me the road must be pretty slippery.

It was so slippery out last night that our Outback almost ended up in the ditch. The back tire of the car gently slid over the skating rink like surface, to stop just short of the 4-foot trench below. Fortunately, the vehicle came to a halt before going over completely. Shawn was so shook up by the incident that he simply left the vehicle in the driveway. Digging it out in a few hours is not going to be fun.

The power flickered over a dozen times throughout the night but I’m happy to report the electricity has held up to the wind and snow so far. Just moments ago, I went out to snap a few pictures and the wind had really picked up. The snow was blowing so hard, it was almost a total white-out.

Others weren’t so lucky.

Mymotherlode reports:

In Tuolumne County there are 27 PG&E customers without power. They are primarily in the Phoenix Lake and Cedar Ridge area. In Calaveras County, it is much worse, as around 6,000 are without electricity, spread throughout Murphys, Angels Camp and Copperopolis. There is no estimated restoration time to report.

We even had a friend call last night to check to see if we were okay. Apparently, there was a 45-car pile-up on the highway reported by the local news. Our friend thought we might be in it. It was sweet of him to check on us. We rarely go farther than the post office when the weather turns nasty. Unless it’s urgent, it’s so much safer to just hang out around the house and wait for the weather to pass.

It always does! Until next time, stay warm!

It’s been fairly cold outside for most of the day. It’s currently only 39 degrees and just moments ago, it turned really ugly outside. What started out as rain, took only minutes to turn to frozen rain, mixed with snow.

Mymotherlode reports:

A Winter Storm Warning has been issued for the Sierra Nevada through 11 a.m. Saturday. Four to ten inches of snow accumulation is possible from 3000 through 4500 feet. A foot to a foot and a half of snow is likely above 6000 feet.

Looks like we are in for more nasty weather over the weekend. If you are driving up from the valley be prepared for unexpected gusting winds.

Locals can expect widespread rain, mountain snow and high winds to bring the possiblilty of downed trees, limbs and widespread power outages creating hazardous travel conditions.

Here we go again folks. I don’t know about you but I’m ready for old man winter to pack his bags and clear out. Let the sun shine!

Stay warm!

We’ve had some interesting weather patterns this week. For the past several days, the rain begins softly falling just before dusk, it gradually picks up steam and rains steadily all evening long, until just before dawn. At dawn, the sun comes out and dries everything out, just in time for the birds to come for breakfast.

Sunday and Monday the sky was a beautiful blue, the sun was shining and the air was crisp. Today, was a bit overcast and just shy of gloomy.

Tomorrow’s forecast calls for thunderstorms — so, if you are heading out to work in the morning, take a moment to be sure your computer is turned off and be sure to unplug your television, unless you are using a good surge protector. Spending as little as $40 can go a long way in helping to protect your expensive electronic equipment.

Our current temperature in Twain Harte — 49 degrees.

This is a good time to curl up in front of the fire with a good book but do try to get outside and walk a little, when the sun peaks out.