Posted by Shawn & Annette in Twain Harte News on March 19, 2011
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.
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!