RenoVous

  We took a drive up to Yuba Pass so the pups could enjoy some snow. We haven't seen much on the valley floor yet, and this wasn't much for the mountains either.  We used to come up here for snowmobile camping at New Year's. Trailhead, 2011. Take a walk on the winter side. (2010)

  The snow in the yard is mostly melted now but we enjoyed it. And I caught a wave.

  Over the weekend we took a little drive up Peavine to enjoy the snow views. The pups like it. Back at home with the birds. And last night, it really snowed.

  The International Space Station looking down on Lake Tahoe and the snow pack of the Sierras. This was a few weeks ago, and it has snowed since. In January, we had already exceeded records since 1995, and we're at least 200% of the average for March.  The Southern Sierras have the largest snow pack in recorded history! It should be a long season for the ski resorts, and we're already seeing some reservoirs fill up.  There are concerns that a rapid melt won't replenish the groundwater, but rather cause a flash flood in the Sacramento and San Joaquin systems. The Truckee River is flowing pretty good, but we took a drive last weekend and it's the Walker River that's really hustling right now.  Washoe Lake is spreading itself out to touch the highway. And here is Miss Mt. Rose. Do you see her face?

  Welcome to Davos, Switzerland - an Alpine resort town and home to the WSL Institute for Snow and Avalanche Research. The Swiss Alps are a natural laboratory, with test sites enabling scientists to analyze natural phenomena in real conditions.  They have machine and electronics labs to develop the instruments and field equipment necessary for their experiments. The teams research snow, atmosphere, natural hazards, permafrost and mountain ecological systems. WSL is part of the larger Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow, and Landscape Research. WSL

  The rain on New Year's Eve turned into snow, and it was a wet heavy snow. We were able to make a get-together, and by the time we got home, the power was out. No worries, we were prepared to be camping after all. It was a cold New Year's Day though. Needing to go somewhere, anywhere, we went to the Lockwood Trailhead. The power came back on yesterday evening - but I was all ready for another day off.  :-P Happy Happy 2023!!!

  (I had to add something because the menu page stretched the below image too much). The best photo I've ever taken.  Using a Kodak disposable camera, this was on campus at UNR around Manzanita Lake and Hall. I scanned the original so I could have it online - for MySpace purposes. Here's another old favorite from our snowmobiling days. New Year's Weekend is often when we would head up, but it's been a while now. However, we do plan on camping this weekend, and it did just snow again...

  Every snowflake is unique on a molecular level.  Their shape evolves through the air, and even two falling side by side will be blown through different levels of humidity and vapor. But they do all fall into one of 35 shapes. Here is a rare 12 sided snowflake. The photographer is Jason Persoff from Denver, Colorado.  No stranger to snow, he's been perfecting his technique. "I catch them on a black wool sock. You have to capture the flakes right as they fall - as soon as they form they can begin to degrade once crystallization stops from melting or from sublimation," he explains. Site Article

  Facebook reminded me of these photos I posted from New Year's weekend 2011. Heading up Yuba Pass. Sno-Park Trailhead NYE Night Ride It's been a few years now since we've gone up - I miss it, and I know Hubby does.  When we first started dating, he told me straight up he wasn't sure if he could love anything more than snowmobiling. I guess I won.  <3

  Finally!  Last year's first snow was more than a month before this day.  I'm counting snowfall in the valley, not in the mountains. Backyard.