Snow in the Sierra

Sure wish I was there right now. Sitting inside where it's nice and warm, of course...

Yosemite snow

Sure enough, the storm that came through NorCal yesterday dropped snow on the Sierra. Yosemite Valley is around 4,000 feet, and it looks like the valley got a decent amount of snow. We sure got a lot of rain.

Yosemite snow

Just beautiful...

Top 10 Reasons I Like Fall (a.k.a. Autumn)

10. It immediately follows summer.
9. It's the only season with two names.
8. It's a nice change of pace from summer.
7. It isn't winter.
6. It's a season of moderation, not extremes.
5. It's something nice to think about in the middle of winter.
4. It means summer has ended.
3. It's cooler than summer yet warmer than winter.
2. It's the most wonderful time of the year.
1. It isn't summer.

Is it fall yet? :)

Snowy Yosemite.

Yep. A storm came through. That means I must post new pics from the webcams up in Yosemite. Enjoy.

This is where I'd like to be today...

Snowy update.

Um, yea. More snow pics.

More snow pics.

Snow in Yosemite.

Cool. This storm system is dropping rain on us in Sacramento right now, but the mountains are getting snow. This pic is from a webcam in Yosemite Valley, where the elevation is around 4,000 feet. Awesome...

Snow vs. Snow

Hmm, I was checking out some online "live" cams of Yosemite today, and I realized there really is a difference between a fresh snowfall and snow that fell a day or two earlier. Check out these differences:



The top photo was from today; I think it snowed in the mountains earlier this week. And the second photo was from earlier in the month, on the day of a snowfall. Remarkably difference.

I'm in Iowa this week. It hasn't snowed, but it might this weekend. We'll see...

Snow in Yosemite

This was a very nice sight to see online this morning, from Tioga Pass (around 9,900 feet) in Yosemite National Park. It's likely there will be snow at much lower levels after today's storm. Sacramento got over 1.5 inches of rain for our all-day rainfest Saturday. We need it!

Smoky skies and hot days.

Life is borderline miserable in this part of California right now. I know it's not as bad as the folks who had flooding in the Midwest last month, and right here in Sacramento we don't actually have wildfires threatening our homes. But our sky is filled with the smoke from fires in the region, and our temperatures are passing 100 again today.

I'm sitting in my office at the church, and when I look outside, there's a dull orange tint to everything. Visibility is limited. It smells like a small valley filled with campers. And if I spend too much time outdoors, my eyes start to sting. All in all, just not a lot of fun to be outside.

More pics of snow.

Here's my latest installment of my obsession with Yosemite National Park. Sure wish I was enjoying some of this snow... from the safety of a cabin with heating, fireplace and lots of food, of course!

I ventured into the cold. Brrr.

It's pretty cold here in Iowa today. I think the temperature is around 17 degrees but it feels much, much colder because of the wind. My dad and I went walking around for a few minutes along the trail behind their house. I only lasted about 30 minutes, even bundled up like this:

Gettin' ready for snow.

We just watched the news... it's 6:30 here, which means it's 4:30pm in California... which really doesn't matter, but I thought I'd point it out...

Anyway, the weather folks (who are always right and never wrong, of course) are forecasting that this part of Iowa could get 4 inches of snow on Wednesday night, into Thursday. That would be supersweet. There's still snow here, but I'd love to wake up Thursday and see a fresh blanket of snow covering everything. Then I could grab one of my dad's sleds and slide down the hill in their backyard...like a 6-year-old kid. Awesome!

Cold days ahead for me.

I'm leaving Monday to visit my dad and stepmom back in Iowa. Just checked the weather forecast, and it looks like the HIGH temperatures may never break past freezing while I'm there. I think that's been the case both of the other times I've visited, too. Gotta make sure I grab my gloves, a scarf and my beanie!

Mountain snow.

I realize some of you are convinced I'm obsessed with Yosemite. That's not entirely true. No, I lie. It's true. Here are two pics of fresh snow up there from yesterday's storm -- and more snow on its way today!

Crazy weather.

Today has been wild. It's just 2PM, but we've been without power for most of the day (since around 7:45AM). We've had a huge storm moving through, and the winds have been insane. I haven't been able to check much online because of the power outages (it seems rather stable at the moment) but we've had heavy winds, lots of rain, downed trees -- wild stuff.

Here are a couple of pics from my house. No real damage to show, but a bit messy outside today!

It's snowing in Yosemite.

I have just one word: woo-hoo!