Tag: weather

This isn't the ideal photo I would have taken, it's a little hazy and far away. The afternoon glare made it hard to get anything better. But still, even in this photo you can clearly see the results of last night's snowstorm on Job's Peak.

Yes, we knew there was going to be rain coming in late this week. Or, "rain" I should say, because I've learned not to trust the weather reports when they call for precipitation. Usually it either ends up not coming at all, or ends up being a far cry short of what we were promised. So I didn't put much stock in reports that we would get rain in Western Nevada this week.

Last night we even went up to Lake Tahoe, and there was no sign of any moisture coming. There were a few scattered clouds, and it was unseasonably cold up on the beaches, but that's all. So when I poked my head out the door late last night, and saw that it was actually raining, I was both shocked and impressed. It actually came true, for once. But that didn't prepare me for looking up at the mountains earlier today and actually seeing snow on the peaks. Even the weather reports I saw didn't predict that one. This is probably one of the earliest first snows I've ever seen.

But I'm not letting it fool me. We always get chilly weather around the end of September, and you think that means summer is blissfully over and you can start to enjoy fall, but it's always a fakeout. By the middle of October it will be 85 degrees again, and we'll all be wearing shorts and t-shirts for the Ghost Walk, just like usual.

As for the rain that's still predicted for this weekend? Last night's storm actually has me feeling optimistic.

No, this isn't an archival picture from last December. This is the view out my front door tonight, about five minutes ago. A nice winter storm has decided to camp out in the area. It started with a stiff freezing wind this afternoon, added a few flurries later on, then after the sun set it morphed into this, an honest-for-real snowstorm. There's about half an inch so far at my house in the Carson Valley, and it's still coming down. It will all be gone tomorrow for sure, but it's a nice fun little surprise for all of us here. I think we've now gotten more snow during April than we did during December, which is pretty funny.

It's not really a "surprise" storm, because we were warned that it was coming. I think the real surprise is that the weathermen were right. "Snow?" I scoffed. "I'll believe that when I see it."

Around here the default setting is sunny and hot. That's what we get ten months out of the year, is sunny and hot. Summer comes just as soon as it's possible in the beginning of the year, and sticks around as long as we'll let it. That's why we were seeing highs of like 80 degrees just a couple of weeks ago. We skip right over spring. Summer starts in March around here.

And on top of that is all the disappointment that comes from living in a rain shadow, where you get to hear about all the snow storms and rain storms that are coming your way, and you get to watch the mountains get shrouded in clouds, but the storm never makes it that last few miles. It never hops over the hump and shares its moisture with the valleys. So that's why, even when the weather report says it's going to rain, or says it's going to snow, I never believe it. I don't believe it in December, and I don't believe it in March.

But sometimes it surprises you, and even in the face of all of those obstacles you get snow in summer. Like we did today.

Looks like my little rant yesterday did the trick. We got about four inches of snow dumped on us last night. Of course it’s warm today and a lot of it will be gone by the afternoon, but that’s okay because nobody likes driving on snowy roads anyway. At least we got our one (relatively) big storm, so I’m satisfied.

I’ve put up many more photos at Flickr, so go check them out.

This winter is really starting to cheese me off. For months now, we've been waiting for snow, and not getting any. It seem like every year, even in the really dry ones, we'll get one big dumping, at least. Like six inches worth of snow that piles up everywhere, and forms a blanket over the brown we normally see the other fifty-one weeks of the year. But this winter it never came. We had a couple of false starts, a couple of big storms that were supposed to drop on us and good, but they never did. Thinking back, the biggest snowfall we had here in the valley was probably an inch. An inch and a half. And up in the mountains, they were laying off workers left and right at the ski resorts. Pathetic, just a pathetic showing all around by Mother Nature.

So here we are in February, usually our last chance for any kind of big snowfall. We can get snow in March and April, and even right up into June some years, but those are spring snows and they're different than a good, blasting winter storm. So here we are in February, and we get word that a big storm is coming our way. Huge storm. Snowing is projected for three or four days straight. So we all get excited, even though there's still some nagging doubt in the back of our minds. Because we've been let down before.

This past weekend was when the big storm was supposed to hit, and last through until early this week. And, indeed, the flakes did start falling. And we got a little covering on the ground. But then the sun came out and melted it all. A story we've seen a thousand times before. But then it started snowing again. And then the sun came out again. And then it started again. So we're being constantly teased, back and forth, like a carrot that's just out of our reach, with the promise of snow.

But we are getting snow right now. It is coming down, and it has been all weekend. But it's thin. It's tiny flakes. And the temperature is well into the 40s, so any snow we do get melts before it hits the ground, or soon after. It's not sticking anywhere, and all it's doing is making the roads icy without any of the attendant Winter Wonderland stuff that's supposed to be going along with it. So now, besides being pathetic, it's frustrating as well. It's winter, but not really. It's snowing, but not really. What do we have to do to get just one decent snowfall around here?

Now, I know that usually whenever I write about the weather, I end up jinxing myself, and the weather changes, and just five hours later I look like an idiot. If I write about how it's snowing, and how exciting it is, it stops within ten minutes. Or if I write about how it's not snowing, even though it's supposed to, we get dumped on. So maybe by writing this I'm hoping to get jinxed, maybe I want Mother Nature to read this, and say, "Pathetic, eh?" and drop a foot and a half on us tonight.

Of course, that's just inviting the double-jinx, where we get nothing but sunshine. Oh, well. I guess too much water is a bad thing, too. Just remember back to all the times Carson City has flooded before.

We had a nice little afternoon snowstorm here in Carson City today. There wasn't a lot to it, and it blew over without any flakes sticking to the ground. But it served as a nice reminder that, in spite of the mild temperatures we've been having, it is still winter around here. Even if it's been an extraordinarily dry winter so far.

For generations, the sight of a slow curl of smoke rising from the chimney was recognized as a welcoming invitation to warmth. Now it's the condensation streaming from a HVAC vent pipe.

We're in the cold time of year, and we're caught in a colder-than-usual snap right now that's been driving temperatures down into the single digits. I glanced at the Carson Weather button on my page this morning, and was greeted by this:

But the thermometer in my car had a different opinion.

I don't care who you are, that's cold, son.

So they're talking about another storm coming in this week? And more snow? I'll believe it when I see it. Living here in the rain shadow of the Sierra is an exercise in disappointment; every time you think you're going to get some rain or some snow, the storm ends up sputtering out just as soon as it reaches us. Like our "big storm" last week, which left a snowfall measurable in millimeters.

But they say there will also be a cold front moving in, and that I can believe. We've had an unseasonably warm winter so far, down to the fact that most days this year you've been almost able to get away with going outside in short sleeves. The sun is downright hot, and I think there was one day that I almost, but not quite, had to turn on the air conditioning in the car to cool things off. I think I did crack a window.

So we're overdue for some bone-chilling cold and single-digit nights. They won't be welcome, but they'll be expected, and in a way it will be a relief to finally get a hint of winter. If only to break the suspense. And I'm glad there won't be any snow to go along with it, because there's nothing worse than when you get snow inches of snow, and then it freezes rock solid and you have to live with three weeks of crunchy ice.

And me writing this guarantees we'll wake up to eighteen-inch drifts.

You can always check the latest weather reports by visiting www.carsonweather.com, or by clicking the weather report in the left sidebar.

My New Year's resolution should be telling myself that it's okay to publish a story without a picture attached. I can't tell you how many things I would see happening last year on my daily drive, but I wouldn't write about them because I couldn't stop to take a picture. And by the time I did finally get a chance to photograph it, it was too late. Or it just slipped out of my mind, and I never got the picture, and I never wrote the story. Everybody loses!

So here are a couple of things I'm making myself write about, even though I didn't get a picture.

* I left town for a few days, and when I came back part of the signal at Stephanie Way and Hwy 395 was installed. It's just one pole and two signal heads, but it's more than when I left. Woo hoo!
Of course, it came too late for one family. And it wouldn't be needed if NDoT would just build a couple of overpasses and turn 395 into a controlled-access freeway like it should be.

* The new Suzuki dealership is open on South Carson Street, next to Kragen's. Right now it's just an empty dirt lot, but this year they're supposed to build a five-story showroom on that tiny lot. The land has sat empty for years and years, ever since they demolished Tequila Dan's restaurant.
Also, they've got Smart Cars on the lot! Vroom vroom!

* Wayne Kremer was robbed.

*The Oasis trailer park next to the Albertson's in south Carson is being demolished. The land was sold last year to a retail developer, and soon the site will be home to a strip mall and office space. But first the mobile homes had to be moved out. Many of them were moved, but a few were stripped of their valuables and left behind to be crushed by the heavy equipment. The trees were the next to go, and as of today the only thing left on the site is the two-story permanent structure that housed the park office. It'll probably come down this week. There's been controversy about these mobile home parks, like the Oasis and the one that was next to Bodine's restaurant. On the one hand, they're huge eyesores right on the main street through town. But on the other hand, they're the only option left for affordable housing if you want to live in the Eagle Valley. Many people who work in Carson City can't afford to live here except in a low-rent apartment or trailer park, and with the parks being sold and demolished there are even fewer available spots.

* It's the 10th anniversary of the Big Flood of '97, and while I remember it vividly, it occurs to me that probably a good portion of you weren't around back then. You don't realize how many bridges there are in the Carson Valley until all of them simultaneously close, and you end up stuck on one side or the other of the river.

* Don't check your mail today. The Post Office is closed due to a national day of mourning for President Ford.

* We've had a drier-than-usual winter so far, but once again reports of a big storm are trickling in, supposedly hitting us on Thursday. Will we finally get some snow on the ground this time? Or will it pass us by once again? Either way, it looks like we'll get more wind for sure.

* Sorry for all the junk you've been seeing on the site the last few days. I guess that's the downside of building a site from scratch; you've got nobody to blame but yourself when the thing gets spammed.

I got this photo from a reader in Washington State. They're getting dumped with snow right now, but this is the same winter storm that's headed our way. She sent this picture as an advance warning of what we should expect here in Carson over the next couple of days. Buy those snow chains and brushes now, while you've still got a chance!